Impossibilities
by invisible0one
Summary: A/U Samantha Manson is a girl with a mission, literally. It's her job to track down Phantom in an elite private school full of boys. But when secrets start to unravel, can she find it in good conscience to continue, or will her loyalty to new found friends outwiegh her loyalty to the Guys in White?
1. Mission Start

_I don't even know where this came from... I'll probably keep it going if I have time._

_And for those of you to catch the reference in the begining, I just had to put it in there. Don't know why, I just had to do it. :)_

* * *

_Chapter One: Mission Start_

* * *

My rather snobby tour guide was still going on and on even though I had clearly started to ignore him an hour ago. Well, I appeared to be ignoring him anyway, my training kept me from ever missing a word he said, regardless of how "distracted" I was. That didn't change the fact that I wanted him to shut up though. Some of his first words were still driving me crazy, he'd decided to greet me and then go on to brag about the school and its students.

"Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here, at the elite private school Casper Academy." Yawn. I knew that, I knew it before I even got here; I knew it before the last school year had even let out. Every little detail of this school could have been etched on the back of my hand, I knew it that well. I had to, I was on a mission. I had every detail of this school committed to memory, from the basic building design plans, to the excessively long winded history, the exact teaching schedule of every single teacher on campus, to the schedules of every student of interest. If I didn't know something, it was either one of the few things deemed irrelevant in my briefing, or it simply didn't exist.

I was here with one goal in mind. Infiltrate the school and figure out what the hell was going on with the phantom residing here. It was my first long term assignment, I wasn't expected to complete the mission for at least several months. The Guys in White had actually messed with the school servers to grant me a free scholarship for as long as I needed. So long as I had gotten them the information they wanted by the time I graduated, I was guaranteed a successful career in the delicate art of gathering intelligence. As far as a long career? Well, only my own skill could determine how long I'd manage to live doing it.

I kept my air of ignorance running strong as my mind began to take in the details, sometimes before I even realized I was committing them to memory. Blue prints and design plans did a lot, but details could be the death of you if you didn't keep them all in the front of your mind. Just looking around and absorbing the tiny details and quickly analyzing the people I could tell this was going to be quite an amazing assignment.

Of course, as with every mission, there was a downside. This was an all-boys school, and I was a girl with a cover to keep. I absolutely hated the fact that I had to act like one of these mindless boys, but it was a part of the mission, and it had to be done. I was pretty lucky that girls hair styles seemed to be getting shorter and shorter though, It let me pick a short haircut that could easily pass as that of either a boy or a girl. My cover was now a rather short, lanky guy with hair as black as night and deep blue eyes that almost came off as purple in the right light. I was no longer Samantha Manson, I was Samuel Mason. Personally, I thought my cover's name was a little haphazard and way too obvious for such a long term mission, but maybe that's what the Guys in White were banking on. If someone thought it was way too close to my real name to be my cover, perhaps they wouldn't look too far into it.

My tour guide finally shut up upon reaching my dorm apartment. As he left, I asked him again for his name, I already knew it, but a new student would likely forget and would need to know in the event they needed any assistance. This was my mind, analyzing every little detail, finding every little opportunity to add to my cover, to make it seem more real. I was supposed to be a straight A scholarship student who was bad with names, the latter detail was added in the event that asking someone for their name a second time might just cause them to slip up and say something they hadn't meant to.

I pulled out the key the office had given me, briefly noting the faint fingerprints that screamed at me that my new roommate was already there. My mind quickly informed me I was staying with a guy by the name of Daniel Fenton. I was both thankful and slightly bummed he was only of interest because I'd be living with him. Something about his past made the agency certain he would pose no threat to my mission or have any connections with the phantom I was here for. I took my surroundings in; a black sofa was against the wall nearest to me, a long coffee table in front of it. Someone, most likely my roommate, had already set up the entertainment center with an X-Box and stereo system. I laughed inside the safety of my own thoughts; I knew just how easy these things were to hack, build, and repurpose. I could do all three to both in well under fifteen minutes by now, but I figured that was not the best plan of action. I was meant to blend in, not gain attention.

There was a desk on the other side of the room, equipped with a school provided desktop computer. It was probably only there as a formality as most students here had more than enough money to bring their own laptops. The kitchen of the small apartment held only the bare essentials. A fridge, stove, oven, microwave, sink, dishwasher, and a very cramped freezer filled the small space along with a few cabinets. The kitchen couldn't have been more than 150 square feet, but it was meant to be livable, not a state of luxury. I found a small dining table just outside the kitchen, and hidden behind that was a small hallway.

At the end of the hallway, I found three doors. The one on the right was closed, presumably the bedroom my roommate had claimed. The middle door was probably a bathroom, I couldn't tell because the door was closed, but the running water and the fact that it was the only remaining place available for a bathroom gave it away. The final door on my left was open and the bedroom in which I would reside. There were few furnishings, a small bed and night table, a dresser and a desk were all that could be found in the cramped space. I set my laptop up on the desk after depositing my bag to the floor to be put up later.

Once I had it started up, I had any files that even came close to anything to do with my mission locked under not one, not two, but three different password checks, each with a different set of passwords. No agent would be caught dead using the same password more than once on anything classified. I had a feeling I wouldn't need to worry about my roommate snooping around, but you could never be too careful. Of course, being too careful also meant I couldn't ever leave the comfort of my bed without wrapping my chest, imagine what people would do if they realized I was a girl. It was still day one with these damned bandages, and I could already tell they were going to be a royal pain in my ass. They limited my movement and breathing, making me feel slightly more vulnerable than I usually was. Then again, even with this handicap I could take out three full grown men without so much as breaking a sweat.

I left my room and headed to the kitchen with the intention of raiding the fridge for a snack before the rest of my stuff got here. I may be a secret agent, but that doesn't mean I don't have to eat. I heard the water shut off in the bathroom as I settled on the couch with the chips I had commandeered from the cabinet. One door opened, and another on closed at the end of the hall. After a few minutes, he came out of his room.

Let's just say that any normal girl would have passed out right then and there, and even I had to fight to keep the blood from rushing to my cheeks.

His hair was blacker than mine, and his eyes were a brilliant blue. His skin was only slightly darker than mine, but as pale as I am, anyone would look tan compared to me. For my personal tastes, his face was perfection. But that's not what caught my attention.

Oh no, what caught my attention was the expertly toned body. He had come out wearing only jeans, meaning that piece of art was on display for the world (at the moment, me) to see. I mean, damn, that boy had some muscle. From the files I had been given on him, I knew Daniel was no sports star or anything else, if anything he was known for being clumsy beyond belief, but something he did gave him some damn fine muscles. I barely reminded myself that staring would put a blow to my cover, but it was hard to keep my eyes off that body. The small apartment suddenly had more appeal to it since it meant I was living in close quarters to this hunk.

He smiled and reached out a friendly hand. "Hi, you must be my roommate. I'm Danny." I knew that, my files had told me that. What I didn't know was what had given him such a defined torso, not that I was complaining or anything. I was far from complaining.

Get yourself together Sam; it'd do you no good to blow your cover this early on. "I'm Samuel, but I swear I'll have you on the ground begging for mercy if you call me anything other than Sam." My cover said I was a straight A kid, it said nothing about whether or not I couldn't use just a few scare tactics to get my way.

Oddly, he didn't seem fazed by it in the least. I did catch him mutter something along the lines of "I already did that once today" though. I didn't see much of a need to push him into explaining. Whatever he did, it obviously wasn't anything dangerous if the Guys in White saw no threat to him.

I was definitely going to have fun living with this guy.

I mean, I was going to have fun on this mission. Yeah, that's what I meant. Fun on this mission.

* * *

_So, what do people think? Good, bad? Keep going, burn it now? I'd love to hear from you and get some reviews!_

_And for those of you who didn't catch the reference at the begining:_

_The phrase "Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time here, at the elite private school Casper Academy." is a direct reference to Ouran Highschool Host Club. You would find Casper Academy replaced with Ouran Academy in the show. :)_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	2. Ghosts of the Past

_Wow...Not even 24 hours and this is already doing better than my other stories..._

_You people must really like it, that or you're nuts. Really, really nuts. :P __Brownie points for those to catch the reference!_

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Ghosts of the Past**_

* * *

Seeing my roommate for the first time gave me painful flashbacks of my past. Flashbacks to the day I lost everything. My mental walls were threatening to break down, enough so that I ran to my room for a few minutes to calm down even though I'd gotten dressed in the bathroom. I knew how this worked, I had to let the memory run its course or it'd just get worse and worse with each passing minute. I wasn't expecting to be reminded of that day again, but now it seemed I'd be reminded of it constantly.

His face, it looked so much like hers. They even went by the same damn name, Sam. It wouldn't surprise me if it caused me to have another mental breakdown sometime this year. The accident had been two years ago, but the tragedy was still fresh in my mind.

It was that damned portal that started this, that damned portal that killed her. The explosion hadn't left any scraps of her body to recover, she was just _gone._ My best friend, the girl I loved, but was too scared to tell. I lost her that day. I lost Samantha Manson.

The three of us had gone down to the basement just out of curiosity, my parents weren't aware of where we were. Even then, I should have known there was a damned good reason they were constantly telling us to stay the hell out of there. We were joking about going through the unworking portal my parents had made, and then she seriously thought I should do it. I was a clueless, lovesick, kid and let her talk me into it.

If I had just said no, just stopped to think before going in, I'd still have her and my family. I'd still have my life.

I walked in wearing one of my parents' jumpsuits, and tripped over a loose wire. The machinery started to whine, I saw those Tucker making a run for it before the doors started to close. I was trapped and felt the spectral energy start to course through my veins. The words pain and agony don't even begin to cover it. Tucker later told me the blood-curdling scream that came from inside was enough to shatter windows.

The pain stopped, I thought perhaps things would be alright, they couldn't get any worse. Then the overload warning started to blare, the portal was going to explode. Seconds later it did, and my whole life fell apart at the seams. The force of the explosion tore the house apart and sent pieces all over the area. My whole family died that day, pieces of their bodies were found alongside bits of the house. Sam was gone too, but her body was simply gone, not a sliver of a remnant left. It was later theorized that being so close to the energy let out by the initial explosion completely dissolved her body. Tucker managed to survive the blast, but not without the loss of his left leg. It was artificially replaced with a mechanical one; Tucker got a kick out of being that much closer to his beloved technology. No one knew why I survived, but I did. I had received ghost powers in the initial shock of energy. They didn't keep me from suffering severe burns, but they made me survive. They stuck me in this empty living hell.

I shuddered as the memory passed. The end result had landed both me and Tucker here under scholarships, hoping a new environment would keep us both mentally stable. It wasn't staying at this school that kept me from going insane; it was the daily chance to take out my aggressions on some of the ghosts that were dumb enough to show their sorry asses around here. In my mind, it was their fault my family was dead. Their fault I had lost Sam. It was their fault that stupid portal had ever existed.

It was because of that damned portal I was stuck in a living hell.

The image finally left my mind completely. I braced myself to go meet the roommate that had caused that flashback to begin with, the guy that was going to be a living reminder of the accident. I stepped foot outside my room, and put on my best 'friendly' face even though the sight of him was already making my mind go numb. This kid was the splitting image of Sam, the only difference being the gender and shorter hair.

I snapped myself out of my daze, briefly noting that he was staring at me before I extended a friendly hand and smile in his direction. "Hi, you must be my roommate. I'm Danny." He looked a little like I was telling him something he already knew, but the look on his face quickly turned to curiosity for a second before introducing a smile of its own as he reached to shake my hand.

"I'm Samuel, but I swear I'll have you on the ground begging for mercy if you call me anything other than Sam." I couldn't quite tell whether he was bluffing or serious. The tone of voice told me he could do it (or at least he thought he could) but his body structure said otherwise. He was a little wiry, but with the right technique maybe, _maybe_, he could pull it off. Either way I couldn't help remarking to myself that I'd already been thrown on the ground once today.

I couldn't tell if he heard it, and honestly didn't care. It's not like he'd be able to make any connection anyway.

I sat on the couch next to him and we engaged in idle 'get to know who the hell I'm living with' conversation. As time wore on, I noticed something off about him. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he was hiding something. Maybe it was in the way he had all the answers come off the top of his head, or maybe it was in that he didn't seem too sure of what had happened in the early years of his life. It wasn't like I had any room to talk about secrets; I was hiding a huge one that only Tucker and my dad's cheesehead of a college buddy knew.

There's really no secret that can top mine. I doubted anyone could come close to topping the fact the Fenton and Phantom where one and the same.

* * *

_Still doing good with this? Feel free to tell me! :D_

_Invisible One_


	3. Living Nighmares

_Whee! More twists and turns coming up! Have fun! :)_

* * *

_**Chaper 3: Living Nighmares**_

* * *

Danny had sat down on the couch beside me and started some basic conversation. It was all standard questions that I answered with ease, having committed the answers to memory weeks ago. I realized I may have been answering a few a little too quickly for comfort, barely taking any time to think about my answers. It was all fine and dandy until he started asking questions about my past.

I didn't have a backstory for my cover at the ready; no one thought anyone would care enough to ask. I couldn't even draw upon my own past to answer for two reasons. The first being that using any real facts about me would prove to be a threat to the mission should anyone get curious and look into it. The second one was a personal problem of mine. I don't really have a past. I suppose, technically speaking I do have one, but I don't remember any of it.

Two years ago, I was caught in an explosion and was damned lucky to make it out alive. I don't know what happened, all I know is I found myself floating in some green place before I passed out. I was in the care of The Guys in White when I woke up. They'd apparently been doing a routine sweep of the Ghost zone when they found me floating alone. They asked how I got there, but I honest to God didn't have a clue. I still don't know how the hell I wound up there and I can't even make an educated guess because no one was willing to tell me anything about the accident.

I personally have no recollection of the accident itself outside of a scream I can't get out of my head. I figured it had to have been the scream of one of the victims that wasn't quite so lucky. I shuddered to think that I was the only possible survivor of the incident, and only because some unknown force had thrown me into the Ghost Zone.

Since then, I've stayed and trained with The Guys in White. Considering I couldn't even remember my own damn name at the time, there was no family to call and come get me. I was given my current name by the agents; they said it seemed to fit me and my personality. I still have to call bullshit on that, but one doesn't have much room to argue with the people that possible saved your life. I've spent the past two years training and learning how to keep even the tiniest of details fresh in my mind. My specialty has always been in spectral activity, not because the Ghost Zone is the earliest memory I can draw up, but because all the paranormal stuff just tends to find me.

At first I had planned to get as far away from all that ghost stuff as humanly possible, but life had other things in mind for me. Life decided that I was going to be that one weird kid who always knew when there was a ghost near, that one kid with the ability to literally turn invisible, the one kid in the whole freaking world who was prone to dropping things because their hand suddenly decided it didn't want to exist for a few minutes. The agents and doctors ran tests and came to the conclusion that my time in the Ghost Zone without any form of protection had caused some ectoplasm to attach itself to my DNA. It was both really cool, and really weird.

It had taken me months to stop randomly disappearing. I will admit, I did have just a little bit of fun messing with the agents once I got control over these powers, but for the most part, I tried to ignore them. Now, my two years' worth of practice was being challenged by simple hormones. Just sitting next to Danny was causing my control to falter slightly, my foot had already disappeared once, and I was intent on keeping it from happening again.

It wasn't until half an hour later when Danny started going on and on about the various rules that I finally managed to get full control of myself again.

"The rules aren't that hard to follow, but God help your soul should Lancer catch you breaking one, particularly curfew. Curfew's set at 10:30 on school nights and midnight on weekends and holidays." As he started rattling off about it, I realized that the rules were probably the one thing I hadn't actually bothered to memorize before I got here. It probably slipped my mind because I could easily get out of trouble by literally slipping through people's finger's if need be. Still, it was probably something I really should have paid more attention to, good thing I had a hunk sitting here to remind me.

There was a knock on the apartment door. I briefly wondered if it was someone finally dropping off the remainder of my stuff before Danny jumped up to get it saying something about expecting company. I watched him move to the door, finding something remotely familiar about the way he walked. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what it was my mind was swearing I recognized, but there was definitely something there tugging at the farthest reaches of my mind. The feeling only got stronger when the door opened.

We were both met by our expected arrivals. The rest of my luggage and Danny's friend arrived simultaneously. I left my stuff by the door with the intention of putting it up after our guest left, and was met with another major sense of déjà vu upon seeing Danny and his friend together. Danny introduced Tucker to me as I seriously wished my mind would tell me what the hell it remembered. Tucker was dark skinned and wore glasses and an annoyingly bright red hat. I noted that he appeared to be missing a leg and was using an artificial one in its place and briefly wondered how he'd managed to lose it.

There had been a momentary pause in the conversation when Tucker made a comment that set Danny over the edge. I'm sure it was just an off-handed remark that wasn't meant to have the effect it did, but it did answer some questions about why Danny had been deemed a person of no importance until he became my roommate.

"You know Danny, your roommate kinda looks like Sam did." Danny's eyes widened as Tucker realized his mistake.

Danny looked ready to have a full blown panic attack as he retreated inside his own head to face the horrors that one remark brought to his mind. He was silent save for a few strangled 'No's. Tucker tried to bring him back to reality, but gave up and started talking to me instead when he realized his friend could not be saved from this mental attack.

It only took him a second to answer my quizzical look. "He's trapped in a memory of an accident we were in two years ago. That's where I lost my leg, he lost his family, and we both lost our friend Sam. He's the only one to escape with minimal physical damage, but the mental damage it caused him will probably never fade. The specialists think it's the fact that he lost so many people in his life all at once, but I think the main thing to set him over the edge was Sam's death. He wouldn't admit it, but he loved her and he blames himself for her death even though it's unlikely anyone could have stopped the portal from exploding."

I was speechless. I knew it was hard enough to deal with being in an accident and not remember it, but it had to be worse to go through something like that and blame yourself for the deaths of loved ones. How the hell he managed to make it through every day is beyond me, and it gave me a newfound respect for the guy,

"It'd be best if you didn't mention the accident. You can never tell what will set him off, some days it's easier to do than others. If you ever see him like this, just stay with him, it will help to calm him down when he comes out of it to remember that he's not alone." Tucker was dead serious and I saw a sadness in his eyes as he looked over to his friend and my roommate. It suddenly became clear to me that this was the past that kept him from being any sort of a threat to this mission. Just knowing what this kid had been through and was still managing to keep living with kinda made me fall for him just a little more.

I saw him start to raise his head and was amazed to find there wasn't a single tear in his eyes as Tucker ran to his side to coax him back to reality. He had to have been forced to relive that memory a thousand times to get through it without sheading even a single tear, I really felt bad for him. I once again felt something in the back of my mind screaming something at me, screaming that this kind of resilience was what I had always loved about the guy. How the hell I could have loved that about him before I even met him was beyond me, but this kid seemed to have my forgotten memories on edge, as if he was the key to bringing my life back to me.

* * *

_Having fun yet? :P_

_Please, feel free to send me your comments or ideas, you never know when I might put them to good work! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	4. Painful Memories

_Whoa...I seriously did not expect this many people to like it. O_O Not that I'm complaining or anything. :)_

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Painful Memories**_

* * *

I know Tucker didn't mean to set me off like that and I honestly didn't expect it to have that kind of an effect on me. All he did was point out something I had already noticed, that boy Sam looked a lot like girl Sam. Even though I already knew this, it still sent me reeling back into my memories, trapped inside my own head for several minutes.

I was powerless in my mind as the scene I knew so well replayed itself once more. There was one difference this time though, one little detail I had nearly forgotten. Right as the doors were closing, I saw a sliver of a purple cape where Sam had been. I never knew if it was just my imagination or if that was what had taken Sam from me. I didn't care to look into it, Sam was gone either way and it would only bring more pain to my broken heart.

The scene in my head slowly started to retreat and I saw Tucker there, trying to help me get out of my head and back to reality faster. Sam just stared at me with a look of pity on her face. Wait, her? Did I just say her? No, keep it together Danny. That Sam is a boy, not the one you lost. Sam just started at me with a look of pity on _his_ face. His, not hers. God that flashback must have really gotten to me, I seriously hoped my mind wouldn't do that again. I couldn't have myself reminded of the resemblance between the two Sams more than I was already forced to.

I looked at clock and swore, the opening ceremony for school was in fifteen minutes. It'd take us at least ten to walk across campus and I still had to go find a shirt. Normally, I'd just go ghost and fly me and Tucker over there, but I wasn't sure if that was a secret I was willing to share with my new roommate yet. I made a mad dash through the apartment, quickly filling Sam in on the "Start of the School Year" opening ceremonies and how we were expected to sit through all the pep speeches about spirit and all that crap. I hated it with a burning passion, but anyone who tried to skip would find themselves in deep shit with Lancer. He already hated me as is, I didn't need something else against me.

We were out of the apartment in less than five minutes and ran across campus. Even at full speed (well, me and Tucker's full speed, Sam kept having to slow down so he wouldn't lose us) we were still a minute late. Lancer was only willing to let it slide since we were "escorting the new student across campus." I rolled my eyes at that, but I wasn't going to complain, I'll take an excuse that keeps me out of trouble any day. We sat in the auditorium and awaited the lecture.

I was bored out of my mind within seconds when it started, the others were two from the looks of it. I would have gotten us out of there if I thought I could get away with it, but somehow I knew I couldn't. Lancer had a habit of keeping a close eye on me, not because I was known to have small mental breakdowns but because I had a habit of skipping class. It wasn't exactly my fault I had to leave class; I had to keep those damned ghosts from hurting people. There was also the small fact that in order to phase us out of there I'd have to let Sam in on my secret. I didn't want to do that yet. I still wasn't even sure if he'd stick around after all the weird shit in my life started to affect him too.

I just sat there, trying to daydream, but finding all of my thoughts we revolving around Sam at the moment, girl Sam, not boy Sam. I still remembered her eyes, and that cute smile she used to give me when she was teasing me. I remembered the day I almost kissed her, my own nerves were the only thing that stopped me. Why the hell did I have to be such a damned chicken that day? I could have told her how I felt; now she was gone. Now she'd never know.

I felt my mind starting to drag me back into a memory by force, I fought it, but I knew it was useless. I was reliving the memory of that damned accident for the third time that day, something I hadn't done in over a year. My new roommate was drudging up old memories that I had been fighting so hard to repress. I kept having to remind myself that he wasn't doing it on purpose in order to keep myself from losing my temper. I saw that sliver of purple again; could it possibly be a cloak? I knew I had seen it somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where. It was starting to bug me, and the only way to get my mind to shut up about it was to focus on something else. Enter the good thing about being stuck at boring assemblies.

Lancer kept droning on and on about the rules and regulations of the school. I only forced myself to pay attention to keep my head out the clouds and the hell that made up my memories. It was finally over after about an hour and we were free to roam around campus until curfew. I chose to go back to my apartment even though we had roughly two and a half hours left. Tucker and Sam came with me, Sam because he didn't really have anywhere else to go and Tucker because he wanted to make sure I was okay after my little breakdown earlier. I hated how he always over reacted to it, it reminded me of what Jazz would have done and sometimes that only made it worse.

It wasn't until we were back at the apartment that I realized I hadn't eaten or gotten around to stocking the kitchen. Sam offered to give me some money to use when I said I was leaving to pick up some food. I knew he only did it since I was buying for both of us, but I really didn't need it. I had millions at my disposal since my dad had made his asshole, cheesehead of a college buddy my godfather. The authorities couldn't find anyone else to send me to, so I was stuck with Vlad. I hated him; all he was good for was giving me the money I needed to live. That's it. He gave me the creeps and I was always making up excusing to stay at my school apartment during holidays instead of returning "home" to him.

I went ghost as soon as the door shut, barely noticing that I hadn't bothered to grab a key. Oh well, Sam would probably be able to open the door when I got back, and if not I could always just walk through it.

* * *

_Yay! Another chapter is done!_

_I'm trying to respond to all the reviews, I apologize if I missed yours._

_And I once again ask for feedback and comments. :D Who knows, I might manage to put out another chapter or two today with the right encouragement. :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	5. Fading Memories

_I would make some smart remark here, but I find nothing to say at the moment...odd..._

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Faded Memories_**

* * *

Danny left to get some food to stock our kitchen with, and Tucker left soon after leaving me to unpack my bags in peace. A normal kid wouldn't care if they had to unpack with their roommate around, but let's not forget I'm not a normal kid. I took my stuff to my room and closed the door behind me. I had three bags. One I had carried with me that had contained my laptop, a single ecto gun and thermos, and a change of clothes, just enough to make it through a day even if I had an unexpected visitor. The larger of my two suitcases held all my clothes, about ten outfits worth of boys' clothing and three or four girly outfits. I was glad no one had tried their usual antics of putting pink crap in my bag; I would have had to strangle someone if they did. Then there was the slightly smaller suitcase that held the rest of my ghost gear and the few personal items I had.

I looked around the room, trying to find a section of the wall that was bound to have a hollow area I could store stuff in. The wall above the headrest of my bed fulfilled those requirements and would be easy to get to in a hurry. I took out the few small wooden boards I had packed and made both them and the wall intangible. I slid the boards through the wall supports that would make a few small shelves once I made them tangible again. The thermoses went on the first shelf, ecto guns on the second, and all my girl clothes and bandages on the top. I let the wall fall back into visibility, hiding my stash of weaponry from view. Only a ghost or someone with ghostly capabilities would be able to find them now.

I next turned to my laptop. I had already locked anything important with multiple password locks, but after hearing about Tucker's talent with technology, I decided I needed to add a few more to be safe. I double the length of all my passwords and went from three to five on every file. It'd be slightly harder to remember, but I had a system for that. Each file was numbered and in each one I had hidden hints to the passwords of the next file in the order. As long as I could remember the passwords to the first file, I could figure out the next set based on my hidden clues. It was a trick I'd picked up a few months ago and I seriously hoped it wasn't one Tucker knew. If he hacked into my computer out of curiosity, I'd be in one hell of a lot of trouble.

Once I had finished getting all of my crap put up and locked up, I went back to the kitchen to see if there were any more snacks I could snag since Danny hadn't gotten back yet. I noticed his set of keys was still sitting on the counter. He hadn't just left his house key, but also his car keys. I knew there wasn't a superstore on campus, so how the hell did he intend on getting to the store and back? It'd be a royal pain in the ass to walk back with enough stuff to fill the kitchen sufficiently. Maybe he had a bike he had taken instead? I doubted it, it would still be rather hard to get stuff back here even with a bike. I wondered if he'd taken a cab, he did say he almost literally had money to burn when I offered to help pay. I figured that was the only way he could do it, he'd have to have some sort of ghostly power to do it any other way, and I found that idea to be damn near impossible. He'd be a person of interest if he had any known ghostly connections.

I went to sit on the couch and wait for Danny with the intention of letting him in when he got back. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but that's what happened.

_I'm lying on the grass, laughing with friends. I can't see their faces, but they seem so familiar, like I've known them for ages. One is teasing me about being with the other. We call out "We're not lovebirds!" in perfect unison. The first one just laughs. I know that laugh, why can't I place it? He leaves, saying something about being home in time for dinner. I see a flash of his red hat before he walks off, leaving me alone with the other boy._

_I know I've been in this scene before, I know something is about to almost happen. The boy looks at me with crystal blue eyes. I know those eyes, but whose are they? He starts to lean in, almost like he wants to kiss me. He's only a few inches away when the red hat comes back. He's left his stupid PDA behind and didn't have the sense to let us have our moment before coming back to grab it. There's frustration from the blue eyed boy. Why can't I make out their faces? The moment is lost. The blue eyed boy is now too nervous to try again. Damn red hat, why'd he have to interrupt us? The image starts to fade, and I still don't know who they are._

I'm woken up from my dream by a large crash followed by a few inventive swears. I've had that dream before; my therapist always said it was a memory trying to come back to me. I've never been able to see the faces of the boys in my dream, this was the closest I've ever come but I still couldn't figure out who the hell they were. I wish I knew, I wish I could have the memories of my life back.

I get up and go the kitchen to see Danny putting stuff up. That's when my mind kicks in, how the hell did he manage to get inside without a key? I had purposely locked the door in an attempt to teach him to remember his keys next time.

"How'd you get in without a key?" The words are out of my mouth almost before I think them.

He looks to the side, whatever he's about to say is a dead lie. "Tucker keeps a spare for me. I've always been bad about forgetting my keys." He shrugs like it's no big deal. He really doesn't think too much about his lies, does he? Other than the obvious glance to the side before speaking, the school doesn't give out spare keys. Replacements yes, spares no. Once again I'm speaking before thinking.

"They don't give out spare keys. Even Lancer said that at the assembly earlier." His hand goes to the back of his neck, he's about to lie to me again.

"Lancer got tired of having to come unlock the door for me last year and let Tucker have a spare to hold onto for me." I just raised an eyebrow and decided not to push it. I probably didn't want to know if he was this intent on lying to my about it. I still wondered how he'd managed to do it. Even if he did have a spare key, he came in silently. I was trained to wake up at the slightest sounds, and a closing door would have definitely woken me up. It shouldn't have been possible for him to get in without waking me up sooner.

My mind shut up about it when I realized he was shirtless again and I was promptly distracted. Apparently he wasn't too fond of wearing shirts around the house, this I could easily get used to. I had a shirtless hottie for a roommate walking around, any girl's dream. It was only now that I realized he had one hell of a lot of scars. There was no way all of those were from the accident he was in, I could tell they were from several different time frames. Some looked months, even years old, whereas others look to be only a few weeks old. What the hell did he do to get this torn up? I didn't bother to ask, something told me I was only going to get several obvious lies from him if I tried.

* * *

_Yay dreams! Poor Danny really needs to work on his lying skills... :P_

_Comments and questions are welcome as always! :)_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	6. Think Fast

_Three chapters in one night? I seriously need to get my sleep schedule straightened out..._

_Just for the record, this one changes viewpoint halfway through._

* * *

**_Chapter 6: Think Fast_**

* * *

In retrospect, not taking my keys was probably not the brightest idea. I'd forgotten I actually had a roommate that paid attention now and couldn't get away with simply leaving them on the counter anymore. Thankfully, Sam was on the couch asleep when I got back, this let me just phase through the door without being questioned about how I could do that. I thought I was going to be in the clear until I dropped several cans of tuna on the floor. I swore rather loudly, forgetting my sleeping roommate momentarily. Sadly, this was enough to wake her (No! him, damnit, him! I have got to stop doing that!) from _his_ slumber.

He looked at me confused for a second before he started asking questions. I didn't know whether or not to be thankful he was more focused on how the hell I'd gotten in without a key than the fact that I had been out past the damned curfew.

"How'd you get in without a key?" Shit, I really had no way of explaining that without giving away my secret. I glanced to the side without meaning too trying to think on my feet.

"Tucker keeps a spare for me. I've always been bad about forgetting my keys." It was the first thing I could think of and I seriously hoped he'd take my lame ass excuse without too much of a fuss.

"They don't give out spare keys. Even Lancer said that at the assembly earlier." I was hating the fact that he was so observant more and more. Why the hell did he have to pick up on that little detail?!

Think fast, Fenton. Think fast. I felt my hand go to the back of my neck, a nervous habit I'd picked up over the years.

"Lancer got tired of having to come unlock the door for me last year and let Tucker have a spare to hold onto for me." I hoped it'd be enough to get him off my back about it. He raised an eyebrow at me in disbelief but apparently didn't feel like pushing me any farther for answers.

I turned back to the groceries sitting on the counter and heard an almost inaudible gasp. At first I wondered why, then I remembered all the scars on my back I'd left revealed for the world to see. I seriously did not feel like trying to come up with lies to explain that right now. Thankfully he didn't seem too keen on asking either. He went to his room shortly thereafter leaving me to sigh in relief. I might manage to keep my secret yet.

After I finished putting things up, I stuck a frozen pizza in the oven before going to Sam's room to ask if he wanted any. His door was unlocked and, I saw as I got closer, slightly open, so I went in, we were both guys, so it wouldn't really matter too much if I walked in on him changing or something. It only momentarily hit me that he might have different views on that and I might be invading his privacy. I figured he could yell at me later if that was the case, after all, the door was unlocked and left slightly cracked open. He was on his laptop, unaware of the world. I saw some bandages on his bed and briefly wondered what the hell those were for before deciding not to ask.

I tapped his shoulder and saw as he managed to simultaneously close the window and turn to face me before asking what I wanted. He was clearly a bit peeved I had just walked in, note to self, don't do that again.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted some pizza when it gets out of the oven." I noticed he'd switched to a really loose tee shirt, but through it I saw he was trying his damnedest breath with his stomach muscles rather than letting his chest rise and fall normally. I almost opened my mouth to ask why, but considering I'd just invaded his personal privacy, I figured it was best to keep my mouth shut about it.

"Sure, I'll be out in a minute." That was all he said before a glare that said 'get out before I rip you to shreds' took over. Second note to self, don't piss Sam off, he might just kill you.

* * *

I'd retreated to my room after the encounter with Danny. I hated the damned bandages I had to wear over my chest, they hurt like hell after wearing them all day. I decided to take them off and replace them with some that were a little bit looser, wearing a really loose tee shirt to make up for it. I'd kept my door mostly closed, opened just enough to hear what was going on outside it; I figured Danny would have the sense to knock if he needed anything from me. Of course, I also forgot he didn't seem to have much of a problem with personal space. (Cue girlish lovesick daydreams of his upper body.)

I had been looking through my files to see if I could find anything in his history that would tell me about the accident he'd been in, I'd developed a strange fascination with it. It felt like it was something I should know about, I figured it was just something I had forgotten about after reading through his file the first time. I was about to give up when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I nearly had a heart attack, but managed to divert the energy that would have gone into a surprised squeal into pulling a trick I'd grown quite fond of over the past two years. I managed to close the screen I was on and turn my chair around at the same time. It was a move that was quite good at keeping classified information from being seen.

He asked if I wanted any pizza when I saw the bandages on my bed I'd neglected to throw away. I started controlling my breathing, letting my diaphragm control the intake of air to keep my chest from falling into its natural rhythm and possibly showing some rather feminine assets of mine.

Danny left after I told him I'd be out in a minute and gave him a glare that could kill. He promptly left, muttering something about not pissing off Sam. Thank God he was too clueless to put two and two together long enough to realize I was a girl. While that fact was one of the few things I allowed to divulge if needed, I would really rather keep that a secret for the time being.

I sighed as I closed (and locked) my door before taking off my shirt and tightening my bandages before going to the kitchen to grab an extremely late dinner. It was clear I wasn't going to be able to get away from the lung crushing bandages if I wanted to keep Danny from learning I was a girl. The thought of having to wear them 24/7 was almost enough to come clean with that fact, but I decided that was probably not my best course of action.

I redressed myself I went to the kitchen expecting to see Danny there or on the couch eating. Instead, I saw two plate of the pizza sitting on the counter and absolutely no trace of Danny. He was just flat out gone. I was about to go check his room when I caught a flash of light out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and there he was.

"How the bloody hell did you get there?!"

* * *

_Invisible One_


	7. Challenge Accepted

_Just so you all don't kill me for the cliffhanger on the last chapter. :P_

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Challenge Accepted**_

* * *

He gave me a blank look, like he was trying pass off not knowing what the hell I was talking about when he knew damn well. I swear to you he just appeared out of nowhere, there's not a chance I missed him when I was first looking for him.

"Easy. I walked from the living room to right here." He shrugged, I was beginning to see that was another telltale sign he was lying out his ass.

"Yeah, and I'm the Easter Bunny." I shot back. I seriously was not in the mood to be lied to by this guy.

"I'm serious! It's not my fault you didn't see me at first." Cue hand to the back of his neck. I glared daggers into him, it was still day one and he was already royally pissing me off with all the lies.

"Mark my words, I will find out what the hell is going on with you Daniel Fenton."

"I doubt that." I couldn't tell if he meant that to be heard or not, but I saw it as a challenge. Now I knew I was going to find out, just because he said I wouldn't I was going to make damn sure I did. I walked off to go plan this out mentally debating whether or not it was fair for me to use the two years' worth of special spy training. In the end I figured I might as well, it was already obvious he had some kind of special ability.

I went through my stash of equipment and found the mini-cams I'd brought with me. I started invisibly setting them up after he went to bed, deciding I'd let him have the privacy of his own room but the rest of the apartment was fair game. I was going to figure out how the bloody hell half the things he did were possible, whether he really wanted me to know or not.

* * *

Well, I had to admit simply appearing behind Sam was not my best idea. He freaked out and I was forced to lie through my teeth yet again. He called me out on my lie, but apparently deemed it pointless to keep pushing me for an answer. If I weren't a C student, I'd had thought of changing back in the bathroom, then going to the kitchen to meet Sam. I was going to have to stop pulling stunts with my powers for a few days unless I wanted Sam to figure it out.

Part of me realized that he seemed deadly serious when he declared that he'd figure out what was going on with my life, and a part of me actually wanted him to know. I felt a connection to Sam, almost like we'd met before even if I didn't know where.

Classes started the next morning, but the periods were cut in half since none of the teachers actually taught anything on the first day, it was all just boring orientation crap. Classes were over by lunch time as a result. Normally, the lunch break would fall in the dead center of the day after the first three classes, but again this wasn't a normal day.

Sam and I were headed back to our apartment for lunch, Tucker tagging along just for the hell of it. The school offered free lunches in the cafeteria, but unless you absolutely had to, it was better to make the walk home than eat the shit they called food. We were almost there when my ghost sense went off.

"Shit." I muttered before speaking up louder. "Hey Tuck, I just realized I really needed to get something from Mrs. Stuth. I'll catch up to you guys later." Then I made a break for it. Tucker got the message seeing as it was our little code.

It started last year when I was serving a detention with our history teacher, Mrs. Stuth. Ember decided to pay a visit halfway through and I had to choose between her life and keeping my secret identity. Naturally, the hero complex (as much as I hate to admit to having one) and her life won that battle. Long story short, she saw my transformation and stood there shell shocked while I dealt with Ember. It was a quick fight, and she just shook her head with understanding when I was done. No words were needed, and she has only ever said anything when me and Tucker ask for help getting patched up. Mrs. Stuth has kept her mouth shut, keeping my secret and helping when she can, mainly by not busting my tail about missed classes.

Coincidentally, her room was the closest room I could find and deem safe to transform.

She looked up from her work. "And you couldn't do that in front of Tucker…because…?" She'd heard us talking when we originally passed by her classroom

"New roommate doesn't know yet." It was a short response, but enough to satisfy her curiosity as she simply said "Ah." and went back to her work. She's always been oddly calm about my half ghost status, even seeing me transform for the first time didn't faze her much.

I flew out of the classroom and started searching for today's threat, vaguely noting that Sam was watching me from outside our apartment building. It almost looked like he was studying me, watching me closely, the same way Skulker is always looking for a weakness.

"Today, your pelt will be mine, whelp!" Well, speak of the Devil. Here was the bat shit crazy hunter now.

"You know, that threat lost its ability to scare me after the first ten times." I replied dryly. I was really getting sick of that threat, he never got any closer to actually fulfilling it and it was really getting old now.

We started our normal exchange of blows and smart remarks. It wasn't until it was too late that I saw a missile I'd just dodged headed for Sam.

"Sam! I mean, kid! Whatever your name is, run damnit!" He didn't seem to really care, almost like he figured he'd be fine even if he got hit.

The missile hit him, but I didn't have time to worry. Tucker had thrown a thermos at me and was running to Sam's side, I needed to end this and make sure Sam was okay.

I'd finally gotten rid of Skulker and went to see how badly Sam had been hurt. I was surprised by what I found. He'd been knocked out from the blow, but the physical damage was way less than it should have been, knowing what Skulker's missiles were designed to do.

* * *

Phantom appeared right after Fenton left. I didn't think much of it, the rule being once and twice a coincidence, three times a connection. Well, it was something like that, I never was good with remember the exact wording of all the various things my teachers and trainers told me. I stood there watching, mentally noting that the robotic looking ghost looked like it was hunting Phantom like some sort of animal.

Tucker made a run for it as the ghosts started to fight. I didn't blame him, these guys could clearly cause some damage if they wanted to. The only reason I hadn't taken off as well was that I seriously needed some intel on Phantom, that was my mission after all. That and I could make myself most intangible if I needed too, I would rather not but it could be done.

"Sam! I mean, kid! Whatever your name is, run damnit!" Wait, did he just say my name before correcting himself? How the hell would he know that? Regardless I wasn't leaving, I needed to see this fight, and I could suffer a little damage if that was the price. Sadly, that was the price as a dodged missile hit me. I'd been distracted momentarily as I saw Tucker throw something at Phantom, as a result I hadn't managed to make myself fully intangible before the missile hit.

* * *

_As always, I'd love to hear feedback and comments from you guys! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	8. Startling Revealations

_And here we go twisting the plot just a little bit more. :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 8: Startling Revelations_**

* * *

My mind gradually returned to consciousness. I fought the urge to open my eyes, figuring my best bet was to try and figure out as much of what was happening without them as I could. I heard voices, all the more reason to keep my eyes closed and my breathing slow, people are more likely to let things slip when they don't think you're awake to hear them.

Tucker's voice came to my ears. "Dude, we seriously need to get him to the nurse's office. You know as well as I do that the nurse will be able to provide the best medical attention."

"We've been over this Tuck. This is a ghost related injury. Mrs. Stuth may not have a medical degree, but she's been patching us up for the past year, she's better equipped to deal with this stuff." Danny's voice sounded frustrated, he was clearly tired of arguing about this.

"You're forgetting that Sam isn't part ghost like you are, he needs more medical attention than you do to heal!" Tucker again, though technically he was wrong. I am part ghost, I just don't know how much of me is a ghost.

Then it hits me. Tucker just said Danny's part ghost, I knew he wasn't telling me something. This explains some of the impossible stunts he's been pulling, but if he really is part ghost, then why the hell didn't the GIW see him as a person of interest? He really should have been at the top of the list.

"Will you just trust me on this? If we have to, we'll take him to the nurse after and come up with some bullshit excuse for how it happened on the way. Does that satisfy you?" I realized they were debating between taking me to the nurse and our history teacher. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know why Danny was so sure Mrs. Stuth would be able to fix me up, but even I knew that was my best bet, though for different reasons. If the nurse saw I was a girl, she'd report me right away and I'd get kicked out of the school, the teacher on the other hand was a wild card and could go either way. It wasn't a guarantee, but it was better than the odds I was looking at with the nurse.

"Fine, Danny, have it your way but if something happens to Sam because of it, I'm not taking the blame for you." It was looking like I might have a chance after all. Someone picked me, and I risked opening my eyes just long enough to see it was Danny holding me to his chest. If I weren't in a state of severe pain, I'm sure I would have been fighting back girly squeals of delight. I closed my eyes again, trying to see if they'd let anything else slip, and kept them that way for the five minute walk to the teacher's classroom.

Someone knocked on a door and I heard a familiar voice as it opened.

"First day of school and you two are already getting into trouble, why am I not surprised?"

"Because you know us well enough to realize we're constantly getting into trouble of some kind." Tucker dryly remarked before I felt myself being moved again.

"It's not us in need of help this time anyway, it's Sam. He got hit in the middle of a fight. I figured you'd be the best person to patch him up since it's ghost related." I was transferred into someone else's arms before being set down on something soft, a couch I guessed.

"He looks pretty beat up, but I'll see what I can do. You do realize you're the ones that are going to be explain this to the nurse if I can't help, right?" I had to bite back a laugh, Tucker had said the same thing.

Danny's voice came back on. "Yeah, I know. I'll figure it out when I get there if I have to. DO you think you can patch him up?"

"Probably, but I'm gonna ask you two to wait outside while I work. I don't need your comments interrupting my train of thought." Another laugh I had to bite back, somehow I didn't doubt she meant that.

I heard the boys grumble in agreement before hearing the door close again.

"They're gone; you can open your eyes now." I opened them, but not so much because I was told to as because I was startled she'd picked up on the fact that I was faking it. "I assume you were hoping they'd let something slip, am I correct?" I nodded, not quite sure what to say. "They aren't the only ones keeping secrets though, am I right?"

Wait, what? How the hell could she possibly know already? "What are you talking about?" I was seriously wondering what she was talking about, I needed to know just how much she knew.

"Let me guess." She leaned back in her chair, arms above her head. "You're real name is Samantha, naturally leading into the fact that you're a girl, and you're here on a mission." My mouth just dropped open. How the bloody hell did she know all of that?

"How?" That was all I could get out.

"How do I know? Well, I could feel the bandages under your shirt when I picked you up for a minute. Past that, well does this answer your question?" She flashed me a card which, unless you knew better, was seemingly unimportant. I knew better. It was a code card given to agents of the GIW, a simple way to identify each other. I had an almost identical one in my own wallet, the only difference was hers showed a higher level of security clearance. I was a three, she was a five. It looked like a point counter for some made up place, like one of those places that put a stamp on a special card each time you visit. If you get x amount of stamps, you get some loyalty bonus. Our stamps didn't mark repeat visits, they marked security clearance.

Once again, I was at a loss for words. When I failed to speak, Mrs. Stuth simply continued. "I was sent here about a year and a half ago when Phantom first showed up. It surprises me that they sent someone of lower clearance in when I couldn't get the information they wanted." It surprised me too, if she couldn't get what they needed, why did they think I could?

"Come on, I need to get you fixed up. If you wouldn't mind taking off your shirt so I can see the damage." I hesitated for a second, wondering if the damage was even still there, I healed incredibly fast. An involuntary wince when I removed my shirt informed me that it hadn't fully healed yet and still hurt like hell when I actually moved.

"Eh, it's not too bad. Danny's come in here with worse." I gave her a questioning look. "Let's just say those two have a habit of being right in the middle of the fight. I'm sure you'll find out why soon enough." She was silent again as she attended to my wounds.

"Just for the record, Phantom isn't a bad guy, the agency just won't give him a chance to prove it. Promise me you'll get to know him before you turn in your information to the GIW." At my slightly questioning look she added on to her statement. "I will blow your cover if you don't and good luck completing your mission if you can't stay at the school."

"Fine." That was all I got out. Now that I had some time to relax a little, I was realizing just how much pain I was in and it seriously hurt to talk.

"Done. You should probably get going before the boys start to worry. They'll freak if you take too long." I nodded, still not wanting to talk much.

"Just remember I'm always here if you need any help." Those were her last words before the door closed and I was met by the two boys outside. They had a worried look on their face, obviously wondering just how much damage I'd taken.

"You okay?" A standard question. It was one that always slightly annoyed me because the words and the meaning of the phrase were completely different.

"She said it wasn't too bad, but it hurts to talk too much right now." Danny nodded, and we headed back to the apartment. My head was still spinning from my conversation with Mrs. Stuth, only half of what she said had actually made sense when she said it. There was one major question on my mind though.

Why the hell were Danny and Tucker always in the line of fire?

* * *

_Muhahaha. Didn't see that one coming, did ya? :P_

_Feed back and comments are greeted with welcome arms as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	9. Distant Memories

_Yay for dreams and new details! :D And anyone not going "Yay!" get to deal with it anyway! :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 9: Distant Memories_**

* * *

I was pacing back and forth outside the door, getting impatient. This was taking too long for me. Maybe Tucker was right, maybe we should have taken Sam to the nurse instead of Mrs. Stuth. My mind was going a million miles a minute. It was my fault Sam had gotten hurt, my fault she was even in the line of fire. Damnit! There I go again, calling him a girl! The thoughts were going in circles. Why the hell was it taking so long to patch him up?

"I think I should tell him." My mind was thinking out loud now, but I probably needed it. Tucker gave me an odd look, the kind that makes you wonder if you've grown a third eye.

"It's my fault he got hurt. If he's gonna be living with me, he kinda deserves to know there are more death threats than I can count on both me and the people around me." I was making the connections only fractions of a second before they left my mouth.

"It's your choice, dude. Just remember to think before you trust someone with something like that." Tucker seemed to honestly think this was a decision I needed to make on my own.

We dropped back into our worried silence. I put my ear up against the door, trying to use my enhanced hearing to see if I could get any information on what was going on inside even though I knew it was pointless. Mrs. Stuth had ghost proofed the doors and walls of her apartment after finding out my secret. I honestly probably would have better luck hearing without trying to use my ghost powers, but old habits die hard. All I got through the door was the muffle of conversation. Sam was awake, this was more information than I had actually expected to get, even if I couldn't make out the words.

The door finally opened a few minutes later. Sam was standing in front of Mrs. Stuth who was wearing the "I know something you don't know" smile I'd come to know and hate over the past year, though with the look in her eye it could have easily been a "I know _several_ things you don't know" smile. Sam didn't notice the smile behind him as he walked out, clearly in pain, but otherwise fine.

"Just remember, I'm always here if you need any help." The sentence was directed at Sam, but I couldn't help but smile, she'd said the exact same thing when I had revealed myself to her. The teacher retreated back inside her apartment, still wearing her signature smile as she closed the door. I swear she was taunting me with it, and knowing her she may very well have been.

"You okay?" Sam seemed ever so slightly annoyed at the question, but hey, it was a standard question. It just had to be asked.

"She said it wasn't too bad, but it hurts to talk too much right now." Sam fell quite as he started walking back to our apartment. He was clearly in pain, though I had to admit he was doing a pretty good job of masking it. If I hadn't spent the past two years trying to hide every injury I got, I probably never would have noticed.

I decided not to press him, if it hurt enough to talk that he was willing to flat out admit it, it was probably a pretty bad injury. I wouldn't blame him if he tried to skip classes tomorrow honestly.

It was only six when we got back to the apartment, making me wonder why Tucker had opted to go home instead of tagging along. Perhaps he'd simply had enough of me for one day. I had been driving him crazy while we were waiting for Sam. Sam looked like he was about to fall over when we got back, so I really didn't question his choice to go to bed early though I did have to wonder about the muttered "Now I've got to worry about two sets of bandages" comment as he closed his door. I almost followed him to make sure he was okay, then I remembered the death glare he'd given me the day before when I had walked in without permission. That was not a glare you could soon forget.

I shivered slightly at the memory and threw off my shirt (What? I felt more comfortable without it) before settling on the couch, fully intending to watch T.V. for a few hours before actually going to bed. That's what I planned to do, but I swear that couch just has a habit of making people nod off.

_God, she was beautiful that day, not that I ever got a chance to tell her. I was too busy acting like a lovesick teenaged boy before it happened. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew I was dreaming. I tried to change the scene like I normally would, but it wasn't working today. Something was going to force me to live through the memory again, in more vivid details than when I was awake._

_I'm moving towards that damned portal, trying to stop myself every step of the way, but I can't. I can think for myself, but my body doesn't care, it's moving on it's own. This is all in the past, there's nothing I can do to stop it. I was supposed to see it again, supposed to notice something new, even if it scarred me for life. I briefly wonder what I could possibly have missed in the past times before the pain hits. The pain is almost as bad as it was when it actually happened, dampened only by the conscious knowledge that this is all just a dream. The doors open, just as I knew they would._

_The sliver of purple comes into view again for a fraction of a second. I knew who that sliver of a purple cloak belonged to, I know I did. It finally hits me like a brick wall before I wake up. Clockwork._

I wake up in a cold sweat, the T.V. playing in the background and the L.E.D. display proudly proclaiming it to be 11 at night. I fight to remember the dream, as much as I don't want to, I know there was something I saw just before I woke up, something important.

It hits me for a second time, that cloak, it was Clockwork's. Duh. Why the hell did it take me this long to figure out?

And more importantly, why the hell was Clockwork even there to begin with?

* * *

_*Sigh* "Poor clueless Danny."_

_"HEY! I'm not clueless!"_

_"Yes, you are Danny. Yes, you are."_

_And as they always has been, feedback and comments are more the welcome! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	10. Clues

_Having fun keeping up with the twists yet? :P_

_Just for the record, the first part is NOT in the veiwpoint of either Sam or Danny._

* * *

**_Chapter 10: Clues_**

* * *

Those two never ceased to surprise me, and somehow I just knew their new friend would be the same. I knew who Sam was the second I saw her, hell I probably knew more about her than she did. Her past was something every agent knew about, but no one talked about. It was an unspoken rule not to let her know what you knew. Well, it was unspoken if you didn't count the numerous threats given out for telling her. I never understood why they wanted to keep her past a secret, maybe they thought she'd turn on them? They always gave the same bullshit excuse every time someone asked. We want her to remember on her own, they'd always say. It was more likely they just didn't want her to remember period.

I found it funny she was living with Danny for more than one reason. The first being that she was living with the ghost she'd been sent here to capture, talk about irony. The second thing being that Danny was probably the only kid in the world to clueless to live with a girl and not even realize it. He was a good kid, but probably more clueless than a box of rocks on some things. It was pretty obvious she was going to find out his secret before he found out hers. Though it did surprise me that they'd let her have Danny as a roommate, if anyone would be able to return her memories, it'd be him. I laughed at the thought that they might just know he was clueless enough not to realize exactly who he was living with.

Danny's secret was one that had thrown me for a loop when I first found out. It wasn't that it hadn't made any sense to me, if anything it made perfect sense really. What had thrown me off was the sudden realization that I had to pick a side. I couldn't help Danny and the GIW at the same time. It had taken weeks of debating with myself, my sense of loyalty was changing. Several times, I had started to type up the information and turn him over and every time I couldn't get past two sentences before realizing I just couldn't do it. He was a good kid and if I turned him over, I'd be setting him up for pain unlike any other. I was cut out of the loop and completely forgotten when I decided to tell them I simply couldn't get ahold of any of the information they wanted. I knew damn well I'd gotten off easy, they didn't care about me enough to even come take my card back.

The one thing I hadn't known though was that Sam had some ghostly power herself, I figured I must have been cut out of the loop before that was discovered. She didn't have to say anything, her blood held the same greenish glow Danny's did. It wasn't as strong or clearly defined, but it was there. I wondered how strong she was and what abilities she'd managed to get control over. It clearly wasn't many considering she didn't just go intangible instead of letting the missile hit her, but that left the question of whether that the extent of her power of if she simply didn't bother find out what all she could do.

* * *

My plans for that night and the next day: Go home, get some sleep, get through school, and bug Mrs. Stuth until she told me what the hell it was she knew.

Yeah, that's not what happened.

I got home, life let me have that much before fucking up my plans. It was more than I usually got, so I can't complain much. Of course, almost as soon as I got to my room to actually sleep my ghost sense went off yet again. I sighed, mentally running through my list of enemies trying to figure out who it might be. It wasn't Skulker, he was too freshly beaten for that. Technus was about due to have another crazy plan though, it was probably him or that idiot Box Ghost again. Seriously, what kind of ghost haunts boxes? Surely there was something slightly less embarrassing left for him to haunt?

Life rolled the dice for me, the outcome? I got to deal with Technus, master of extremely long winded and pointless speeches. He'd gotten ahold of all the alarm clocks in the vicinity, shouting something about making everyone late and having the world fall into chaos. Don't ask me, I don't know what the hell is wrong with this guy either.

He didn't get too far with it, that was really to be expected though. That guy knew how to talk your ears off, but he really needs work in the whole planning department. He was safely in the thermos, so I flew back home to hopefully get some sleep. I flew in through a wall, but I stopped when something caught my eye. It looked like there were makeshift shelves in there stacked with some ghost gear and some other interesting items.

I stuck my head through the wall to make sure I was where I thought I was, sure enough, there was Sam asleep in the bed below me. I turned back to the wall I was inside, why the hell would there be ghost hunter gear in Sam's wall? And more importantly, why the bloody hell were there skirts and bandages in here too? It didn't make sense, if these belonged to Sam, it would give reason to believe he was a girl. Maybe one of the last inhabitants left these here? Or maybe some various ghost had done this just to mess with my head? That had to be it, it had to be.

That mystery was solved. At least it was until I noticed a picture hidden in the back. It showed Sam, my Sam, girl Sam and the GIW. What the hell? I had to fight back the tears in my eyes as I phased out of the wall, taking the picture with me to look at for a while. It looked like I wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

In the light of my bedroom, I saw wording scrawled across the bottom of the picture.

_To Samantha Manson,_

_We wish you luck on your biggest mission._

_-GIW_

I ask once again:

What. The. Hell!?

* * *

_Aaaaaannndddddddddd...CLIFFHANGER! MUHAHAHAHA! :P_

_Don't hurt me!_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	11. When It All Falls Together

_Hey! I'm still alive after that cliffhanger! YES! I SURVIVED! :P XD_

* * *

**_Chapter 11: When It All Falls Together_**

* * *

I stared at the picture, and the words underneath it. My mind was still in shock, trying to wrap itself around the evidence being presented. That picture was signed GIW…there was no possible way that was the Guys in White? Right? There was only one thing I knew, though whether the connection came from a surge of hope or from actually putting the pieces together I didn't know. The girl in that picture was also my roommate, and more importantly, she was my lost best friend.

But why? Why didn't she tell me who she was when she saw me? Didn't she know just how much pain I'd been through these past two years because I thought she was dead? The fact that she hadn't told me was driving a knife that felt like betrayal through my heart. We'd been through so much together before she disappeared, why hadn't she trusted me enough to tell me? I felt a tear slide down my cheek as the pain set in. You'd think I'd be happy to find she was alive after all this time, but the feeling of betrayal took over before the joy could.

I pulled myself together. I needed answers, and for once I actually knew how to get them. I went back to her room and placed the picture on her bed, hidden only slightly under her pillow. Then I reset her alarm clock. If she didn't get up the next morning, I'd easily have an excuse to come in and from there I could question her about the picture. I could figure out why the hell she hadn't trusted me enough to tell me who the hell she was. I could also figure out why the bloody hell she was involved with the Guys in White. I returned to my room, hoping for even a few hours' sleep. The last thought I had before finally falling into darkness wasn't there long enough for me to even begin to find an answer.

How had Sam gotten that stuff in her wall?

Morning came, and I hoped some answers would come with it. I got myself dressed for school in an attempt to add a little more believability to my act. Half an hour before we would need to leave, I made my move, gently shaking Sam awake.

"Sam, wake up. You're gonna be late." She woke up pretty fast at the sound of my voice. She looked at her alarm clock and then to me with a confused look on her face. Damn, how the hell hadn't I realized it really was her earlier?

I searched my head for a feasible lie as she sat up. "Thunderstorm last night knocked out the power for an hour or two." She obviously wasn't buying it, but she didn't bother to ask when something caught her eye, that something being the picture.

She tried to push it under her pillow completely, obviously hoping I wouldn't see it. I might not have if I hadn't put it there in the first place.

"What's that?" I ask, stopping her and taking the picture. I seriously hoped she wasn't about to give me a can of lies in response. The good news is she didn't lie, but she didn't exactly say anything either. She was at a loss of words, something I'd never known Sam to be. I pretended to study the picture before putting a fake look of realization on my face. I asked a question I already knew the answer to.

"Sam? Are you a girl?" She looked down for a moment in embarrassment before I saw a look that said she was debating with herself before she answered.

"Yeah." She muttered. She didn't want to be telling me this, I still didn't know why, but I was gonna find out. But first, I had something else to ask.

"Who's GIW?" A look of fear struck her faces before she answered, I knew before she said anything she was about to tell me a lie.

"A friend, Gregor Ian White." Wow, and she thought I was bad at lying, she'd even left the word White in there. I seriously though she'd be a little better on the whole lying front. Perhaps it was just because I'd caught her off guard. I wasn't going to push it. There was another question that was weighing heavily on my mind.

I took a deep breath, not quite sure if I wanted to know the answer. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Can you imagine what would happen if word got out I'm a girl?" That didn't answer the damn question I was asking!

"But why didn't you tell me who you were? You should have known you could trust me." Her face changed to a look I couldn't quite identify.

"And how exactly would I know that?" Her face held honest curiosity. Why was she asking me that, didn't she know?

"I thought you'd be able to trust me after all we've been through, Sam, even after two years!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" The look on her face told me that she honestly thought I was just going crazy, she really didn't know what I was talking about. How the hell was that possible? She had to know exactly who I was, we'd been friends for years before the accident!

Unless she didn't remember. Was it possible she didn't remember anything? She hadn't been too willing to talk about her past when we first met, was that because she honestly didn't know what had happened?

I looked at her again. "You don't remember do you?" She shook her head, still confused about what was happening. I suddenly felt the same urge I'd had years ago, before the accident. This time though, I was actually going to do it. I had already lost her once without showing how I felt, I sure as hell wasn't going to risk it again whether she remembered it or not.

I leaned forward, ignoring the butterflies that had stopped me last time. I kissed her, not caring that it wouldn't make any sense to her right now. I was about to pull back when I heard a voice from the bedroom door.

"Holy shit!"

It took me a moment to realize I had left the front door unlocked for Tucker, and a moment longer to realize what this looked like to him. Explaining this was gonna be hell.

* * *

"You don't remember do you?" I shook my head, whatever he was talking about I certainly didn't remember it. He knew something about my life I didn't, and it was starting to bug me.

I saw a look of sadness flicker over his features before a longing determination kicked in instead. He started to lean forward, then I felt his lips on mine. I didn't do anything, I didn't move away and I didn't return the kiss. I simply didn't know what to do. This felt like something I had wanted for years, even before I could remember knowing him. He lingered for a few seconds, like he didn't want to lose this moment. Then a startled voice from the door made him pull back faster than I would have thought possible.

"Holy shit!" It was Tucker. I realized how this had to look to him. I was going to have to tell him I was a girl as well. Danny took care of explain for me though, dragging Tucker out to the hallway, leaving me to get ready in peace. I didn't move for several minutes, still trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

I heard Tucker yell something about "I always knew you two were lovebirds!" That was what finally dragged me out of my trance enough to get ready. That comment, I knew I'd heard it a million times before but I couldn't quite place where. I didn't want to think about it right now, there was just too much running through my mind.

* * *

_*Sigh* Tucker, why do you always have to ruin the moments? XD_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	12. Glimpse of the Past

_Aaaannnddd...dream time again! :D_

* * *

**_Chapter 12: Glimpse of the Past_**

* * *

All was as it should be, even if the ghost boy currently had a death threat in mind for me. Yes, I had ripped the girl away from him for two years, but I also saved her life and brought her back to him. Through all the twists and turns of time, this was the only way to save the girl, and effectively, his life. He may not have known it, but had she not reappeared the guilt from her death would be the death of him given another year. He didn't understand why it had to be done, and when he came to seek me demanding answers, he wouldn't give me a chance to explain. He may have lost two years of his life with her, but he also gained a lifetime by her side.

* * *

The memory of that kiss stayed fresh on my mind for weeks, I desperately wanted to know what it meant. It was clear to me that it held a meaning too great for words to Danny, but he wouldn't tell me why. In the weeks since he found out who I was, he's walked around with a conflicted look on his face like he's happy he'd found me, but upset about the circumstances. I knew damn well he knew more of my past than I did, so why the hell wouldn't he just tell me? Was he afraid of how I'd react or something? Every time I asked, he'd mutter something about it coming back to me in time and then promptly proceeded to avoid the question.

He kept this up for weeks, and I let him since I really didn't think I could help him. Whatever he knew was clearly something he wanted me to remember on my own. I let each week pass, silently hoping something would bring my memory back, I needed to know why Danny was so conflicted over me.

Then there was the matter of the ghost boy, Danny Phantom as I now knew. I had kept my promise to Mrs. Stuth and given him a chance before turning over any information. I really didn't understand why the GIW where so intent on putting an end to his afterlife. He didn't really do anything worth punishing, if anything he's the only reason the school was still standing. I wondered if Mrs. Stuth had seen this in him and that was why she hadn't leaked any information to the agency or if she knew something else about him. The way she acted, it seemed like the latter, but I didn't have any solid proof of it yet. Note the word 'yet'.

The feeling that everyone around me knew something I didn't was suffocating, even Tucker was acting strange for crying out loud! They all knew more about me than I did and it really was a pain in my ass. They'd start to let something slip, then change the topic when I started to push the conversation trying to get more out of them. It was seriously getting on my nerves. And the one day I actually managed to get them to talk, Dash failed a history test and decided to make us run across campus or get the shit beat out of us.

I wanted to overshadow the guy and make him run into a wall several times, but I didn't want Danny and Tucker to see or wonder where the hell I'd run off to. Not that Danny had any room to talk about running off at the strangest times, he had a habit of doing that, always coming back with some lame ass excuse that was a blatant lie. Sometimes I wondered why the hell I even bothered to ask where he'd gone, he was obviously an expert at coming up with bullshit stories. I didn't know where he went, but I did know he was never around when Phantom was. I knew there was a connection between the two, exactly what I couldn't tell.

It was after one of these nights of questioning and getting nowhere that I had the dream, the one that started the flow of my memories coming back to me.

_I was sitting on the grass again in the familiar scene, and as always the red hat walked off in order to make it home for dinner. The other boy was moving closer to me, just as he always had. This time, however, when I saw those crystal blue eyes I also saw his face. I was looking into the eyes of Danny as he leaned in slowly, nervously. My heart jumped, I instantly knew I had been waiting for this moment for years. Now it was, Daniel Fenton was finally making a move, he was going to kiss me…or not. The red hat came back as always, once again returning for his damned PDA. Danny pulled back before he makes his comment about lovebirds._

"_We're not lovebirds!" We say in unison, as always. The red hat just laughs, then I see his face. Tucker, it was Tucker poking fun at us and yet somehow I was used to it. He was constantly doing this to us. He walked away, and I see that Danny is now too nervous to try again. Damn it._

_The image begins to fade into a new one, something that's never happened before. One memory has finally been reconstructed, time for the depths of my mind to show me a new one, hopefully all in one piece this time._

_We're in a lab of some sort; I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad was about to happen, something life changing. The red hat and the blue eyed boy are joking back and forth along with me. Then the sudden idea to go into the portal behind us arises. Danny laughs at it, but I egg him on. I know it's stupid, but the thing didn't work anyway, so what's the harm? He sighs before putting on a jumpsuit of some kind, 'just in case' as he says. It has way too much white for my tastes, perhaps it'd look better in reverse? One thing's for sure, I have seriously got to get rid of that face on his chest before letting him go anywhere, whether it be outside the house or two inches to his left._

_He turns to face the portal, putting on a 'this is scaring me shitless but I'm still gonna act brave' face, I don't know if he really feels that way or if he's just being funny though. He walks inside, I'm still amazed that he agreed to even enter it. It looks like everything is going to be just fine until he stumbles over a wire like the klutz he is. He puts his hand on the wall to steady himself, accidentally hitting a button on the side in the process. IT lights up and the doors close before he can get out. Tucker makes a run for it, but I'm stuck there, frozen in place. I hear his screams and they're still ringing in my ears when the warning sirens begin to blare._

_I know the portal's going to explode, and when it does it won't be pretty. There won't be anything left. The blast starts to hit, but the pain never comes, just an endless expanse of green._

* * *

_I won't be able to update again tonight like normal... Don't hurt me! :P_

_Comments and feedback are loved as always! :D ...even if I seem to have fallen behind on responding... :P_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	13. Secrets Revealed

_I go one day without writing and nearly go insane...wouldn't my English teachers be proud? :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 13: Secrets Revealed_**

* * *

What the hell had possessed me to kiss her? I had wanted it for years, but she didn't even remember who the hell I was! To her, I was just the kid she was stuck living with for the school year. Even now, after a month of her watching me and trying to figure out what the hell my intentions are, I still want to do it again. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just hoping it will make something in her click, make something bring her memories back. I wish Tucker hadn't walked in on us, then I could at least explain myself to her.

I had kissed the girl of my dreams. But did it really count if she couldn't remember who I even was?

* * *

That dream was bugging me to no end. I had to ask him about it, I had to make sure it wasn't just my mind jumping to conclusions. I've never been good at starting a conversation if I didn't have some idea where it was going to go, so I wound up taking the most direct route I could think of.

"That wasn't the first time you've tried to kiss me, was it?" I didn't even bother explaining myself, either he'd get it or he wouldn't.

He hesitated for a second, thinking it over before he finally answered with hope in his eyes.

"No. No, it wasn't." He paused for a second. "Why? Do you remember?"

I hadn't really fully planned on telling him what little I did remember, but the look of hope in his eyes made me blurt out the answer before I could stop myself.

"Yeah, I…I think. Tucker left us alone and you leaned in. We were centimeters apart when he came back for his damn PDA." He chuckled a bit at that, obviously remembering something I hadn't.

"I threated to strangle him every day for a week after that." He paused once again, trying to decide whether he wanted to continue that train of thought or not. "Some days I'm almost glad he did though. I never knew how you felt about it…and things could have gotten so awkward so fast." His hand was at the back of his neck again and his shoes had apparently become very interesting as he sat on the couch waiting for me to answer him.

My mouth spoke before my mind knew what it was saying. "Don't you dare be glad he stopped that. I wanted that kiss too, damnit!" I stopped myself in shock. How the hell had I known that? I hadn't remembered that part until now and yet it felt completely natural to say that. Like I'd known it all along, but hadn't been willing to actually admit it.

* * *

Did she really just say that? Or am I just hearing the things I want her to say? God, I hope it isn't the latter. I need her to remember, it's worse to have her here with no memory than to not have her at all.

I had started to move forward without realizing it. I heard my voice sound, but I hadn't meant to say it. "Do you still want that kiss now?"

* * *

I would have said no when he asked that question, but the way he said it made it hard to do so. I knew what my body wanted, what my hormones wanted, they wanted to say yes. But what did _I _want? I felt a connection to this guy, it was obviously something I would have wanted two years ago, but did I want it now? I knew him like the back of my hand, but at the same time I didn't. I didn't remember who he was, all I knew was what I had gotten to know while living with him.

I must have hesitated too long, he made the decision for me. His lips crashed against mine, and my mind lost all control it would have had over my body. This felt right, this felt like it should have been happening for years. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer as his tongue silently begged for entry. I denied him for a second, feeling as if it were payback for making me wait so damned long for this. I let him in, not quite sure what I was doing though, this was my first real kiss. Well, the first I remembered anyway, there's no real guarantee there wasn't one I didn't know of.

I was just starting to learn when I felt a rush of cold air enter my mouth from his. A chill ran up my spine before he moved away, cursing under his breath. I couldn't tell if the chill was from him or my natural reaction to a nearby ghost.

* * *

Why the hell is it that when I finally have something going right in my life there has to be a ghostly interruption? I was finally getting what I wanted and now I had to find some lame ass excuse for leaving so suddenly.

I pretended to look at the time even though it had nothing to do with this. I put a frazzled look on my face and said the first thing I could think of.

"Shit. Tucker's gonna kill me, I was supposed to meet him ten minutes ago." Thank god it was only 8, that might just work as a valid excuse.

"How many times am I gonna have to call bullshit on your excuses before you tell me the truth?" Or not. Maybe she'd just call me out like every other time. How the hell did she always know? I didn't give her an answer, I honestly didn't know when I was going to tell her.

Tucker picked up on the first ring when I called him as I was running out of the apartment.

"Either there was a lover's spat or there's ghost trouble. Which is it?"

"We've got company. Get to the bell tower now with a thermos or I'll hang you from it."

"Be there in five." The line went dead, he apparently picked up on the fact that now was not the time to push his luck with his little jokes and teasing. The phone was in my pocket only a fraction of a second before I transformed.

* * *

Oh hell no, he did not get to just run off without answering any questions. Not after that.

I grabbed my own keys (noticing that Danny hadn't bothered with his own once again, I'd seriously have to check the camera footage I'd gotten later) before taking off after him, hoping to catch him before he got too far. I saw him turn a corner when I was only seconds behind him, but by the time I got there, he was gone. Where the bloody hell could he have gone in five seconds I didn't know, but what I did know was where he was headed. He certainly wasn't too quiet about his phone conversation, I didn't know why he needed a thermos though, somehow having soup by the bell tower didn't quite sound right with the urgency in his voice.

I got to the bell tower and I saw Tucker, but Danny was nowhere in sight. I threw my hands up in exasperation, subconsciously following my hands with my eyes. Up in the sky, I saw Phantom and some dragon thing. Had Danny run to hide when he saw the lightshow of a battle going on? He did have a tendency to run off as soon as anything paranormal showed up.

There was a blast of fire, it hit Phantom and he fell to the ground, only a few feet away from me. The surprise was evident on his face before he spoke.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Why the hell was that any of his business, I doubted he knew where Danny had gone.

Fire came again, headed for the both of us. In the split second before it hit I realized two things.

One being that I really should have known to get away when the dragon's target landed at my feet.

The second being that Phantom really ought to have been paying more attention to the damn dragon than me.

I also saw two things:

Tucker opening the thermos to trap the ghost.

Phantom running towards me when he saw the flame headed our way, but he didn't make it in time for it to count.

The fire hit hard, and it burned like hell. I forced myself to stay conscious, something told me I needed to see what happened next as hard as it was to keep my eyes open. Tucker came running to us. There were a few words between Tucker and Phantom that I couldn't quite catch (I was quite busy trying to resist the urge to scream from the pain) before Phantom shakily stood up showing a nasty gash from his side. Tucker looked concerned, but must have deemed my wellbeing more important than his as he picked me up and started carrying me.

"Where are we going?" It hurt to speak, I looked down to see a similar gash to Phantom's running across my body.

"You'll see soon enough." His gaze turned to Phantom. "Are you sure you can walk all the way there? You seriously look like you're about to pass out dude." I wasn't aware ghosts could pass out, I didn't think it was really even possible.

"I can make it, it's Sam you should be worrying about. She doesn't have the advantage of fast healing." I didn't even want to know how he knew my name and gender. "It's not that far, I just hope she can fix me before I change back." Wait, change back? What did he mean by that? He only had one form that I knew of.

They walked in silence, and I just watched the ghost boy. He wasn't looking too good. Even for a ghost he was pale and it didn't look like he could go much farther before he gave out entirely. He had his hand over the deepest part of the gash that spread across his stomach. It wasn't bleeding, just oozing though what should have been the pure green of ectoplasm had a distinct red tint to it. I saw him breathing heavily, the pain from the action showing in his face. I didn't know why he was forcing himself to breath when he shouldn't need to. I didn't get a chance to ask before I heard someone knocking at (or rather kicking at) a door.

The door flung open and I saw Mrs. Stuth standing there with a look of concern on her face. Why Tucker had brought us here I didn't know, but I really didn't care right now. She put an arm around Danny and helped him inside without saying a word, obviously used to having them show up at her door seriously injured. Tucker laid me on one couch and I saw Danny being helped to the other.

He suddenly collapsed in her arms. I saw two rings form around his waist and move towards opposite poles of his body. Within seconds I was met with a sight I never would have expected, but really should have guessed. Daniel Fenton was passed out in the teacher's arms. One sentence came out of my mouth before my mind went black.

"What the hell?"

* * *

_Don't kill me for the cliffhanger! It won't be that way for long, I promise! :P_

_Questions, comments, concerns? That's what the little blue review button is for. ;) That or a PM...that works too..._


	14. Wisps of the Truth

_Hey! I once again survived leaving people with a cliffhanger! YAY! :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 14: Wisps of the Truth_**

* * *

"Danny? Danny?" I heard my name and felt someone trying to shake me back into consciousness. I desperately tried to remember what happened. It all came to me in a flash, the fight, Sam, and fighting to stay awake while we walked to Mrs. Stuth's apartment.

"Come on, wake up Danny." The shaking increased, I wanted to smack Tucker upside the head right now. Did he have to be so damn rough?

"If you don't stop shaking me, I'm gonna rip your arm off." I opened my eyes, and let them turn green from frustration for a second. Tucker pulled his arm away from my shoulder, obviously relieved I had come around when I did. Why the hell would he be so insistent? It's not like I was dying. I slowly started to sit up, only to feel strong hands push me back down. My eyes looked around the apartment, I had to find Sam. I found her, still out cold on the couch across from me. It then occurred to me I never saw her black out. If I had gone down before her, she probably saw me change back. I looked down, hoping beyond hope that I'd somehow miraculously managed to stay in my ghost form after I blacked out. No such luck came my way though.

"Shit." I muttered to myself. "She saw me transform, didn't she?" I saw an amused look cross Mrs. Stuth's face.

"And here I thought she'd figure out your little secret before you found out hers."

Tucker and I were both shocked. "You knew?" came our unanimous reply.

"You brought her to me for medical treatment and you honestly didn't think I knew? You really are clueless." Oh, duh. Well, now I know what her little smile was about back then. "I don't know how you managed to carry her back here without feeling the bandages around her chest; you'd think that'd be a dead giveaway."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm a clueless idiot sometimes. Anything else you'd like to add?" She didn't say anything, she just let another amused look cross her face. There were times I both loved and hated the teacher at the same time.

"Back to the more important question at hand, she did see you transform. But, she went down only a few seconds after you did, if you change back before she wakes up, she might not remember it." I seriously hoped Tucker's idea would work, I didn't feel like explaining that whole thing after I nearly got her killed. I looked back at the teacher and had to wonder what the hell she was finding so funny about this.

I was about to ask, but I heard Sam groan from across the room. She was apparently waking up in a lot of pain. I sighed, and let my blue rings cross my body, taking me from human to ghost before she saw me.

* * *

My head was pounding and I felt a sharp pain in my side as I began to wake up. I let out a groan without meaning to. Someone sighed in response. There was a flash of light that caused me to sit up suddenly, ignoring the pain moving had caused me.

"What the hell was that?!" I turned slightly to see Tucker, Mrs. Stuth, and Phantom all staring at me, apparently my outburst wasn't expected.

Phantom finally came to his senses long enough to answer. "What are you talking about?" He sounded so sure in his voice, but his eyes wouldn't stay in one place. He was lying, he knew damn well what I was talking about. Then I remembered something else. I had seen that flash of light before. Last time it was when Phantom became Fenton, was it possible this time was simply Fenton becoming Phantom?

I spoke without meaning to. "Where did Danny go?" That wasn't really want I had meant to say, but I guess it would let me know whether he was willing to tell me or not.

Phantom and Tucker hesitated while Mrs. Stuth just sat in the background with a knowing smile on her face. It wasn't Phantom (Danny?) who answered my question, it was Tucker.

"What are you talking about Sam? Danny was never here." Tucker was as bad at lying as Danny was. I looked over to the ghost standing beside him, he just nodded his agreement. I thought back to the memory I thought I had, but it was so fuzzy in the back of my head. Was it possible I had just been seeing things? Phantom did look a lot like Danny, so it was possible. But then again, that fact could easily go to prove either point.

I decided it'd be easier to stop thinking about it for now and focus on something else. I glanced over at the time. 10:30 in the dot. I missed curfew and there was no way I'd be able to make myself invisible long enough to make it back home without being seen. I looked to Phantom, hoping he'd help me out, surely Tucker would have the same idea?

"Uh…I gotta go." I swear I could have strangled him at that point. Lancer was going to kill me if he caught me out this late.

"Of _course_ you do." The irritation was easily heard in my voice with the heavy coating of sarcasm I gave the phrase. He didn't bother to respond, he just left.

I had nearly forgotten Mrs. Stuth was in the room until she finally spoke up again. "I'll walk you back and keep you out of trouble. Lancer should let you go if I explain there was a ghost attack." I guessed it made sense, even Lancer couldn't punish a student for being out late due to a ghost attack.

I got up shaking a little, I had to lean on Tucker just to stay standing. We left the apartment with me and Tucker in front and Mrs. Stuth walking a little behind us. I chuckled silently to myself as I quickly recognized what she was doing probably out of habit. She was walking just far enough behind us to easily pass as just going in the same direction while staying close enough to hear what was going on, the same way I had been taught to follow people.

We were most of the way back to the apartment when we ran into Lancer. We'd just rounded the last turn and literally ran into him. His arms were crossed, a slightly evil look on his face at the prospect of catching us out after curfew. Tucker and I tried to maneuver around him, but he quickly put a stop to that.

"Mason! Foley! Do you mind explaining to me why you're out after curfew?"

It was at this point that Mrs. Stuth caught up to us to bail us out of trouble. "They got caught in a ghost attack, sir. I was walking them back after getting them patched up."

"The last attack was hours ago, why did it take them this long to get back?" He was clearly suspicious even though we really were telling the truth.

"Sam was out cold for a few hours and Tucker didn't want to leave him alone long enough for me to walk him home. I thought it'd be safer to keep Tucker with us than to let him go home alone so soon after an attack he was caught in." I didn't know how much of that was the truth, and her years of experience kept me from seeing any telltale signs even if she was lying through her teeth.

"Alright, I'll let it slide this time, but send me a warning next time you intend on keeping students out late." He turned to me and Tucker "And don't you two dare think you can get away with this every time you want to sneak out." And with that, he turned and left, probably hoping to catch some other rouge student.

The rest of the walk home was silent. We got back to my apartment and upon entering I saw Danny sitting on the couch acting as if nothing had happened. I saw his keys on the counter and was suddenly reminded that he hadn't taken them with him when he ran off earlier.

"How the hell did you get back in? And don't you fucking dare say you got Tucker to open the door for you, I was just with him." My vice came out clear and strong, demanding an answer from him, and the truth at that.

Even with this, he found a way to ignore it and give another offhanded lie. "You left the door unlocked." There was no way that was possible, even in my hurry I would have locked it having found out the hard way what could happen if it was left open.

I figured it would be pointless to try to push him for a better answer and instead turned to my room, looking to get the answer myself in a slightly sneakier way. I had weeks' worth of video footage to go over in my search for answers, he wasn't going to get off that easily. Seeing as he'd pulled this stunt before several times, I had bugged the door first so regardless of what else I saw I'd be able to figure out how the hell he'd gotten in without his key.

I sat at the screen for hours, finding he did nothing out of the ordinary for the first two or three weeks as the footage raced by on my highest fast forward setting. I was about to call it a night and continue looking through the other half of the footage tomorrow morning when I first saw something.

I saw him doing to boring task of unloading the dish washer, but he seemed to be taking a short cut with putting things up. Rather than open the cabinet doors, he simply reached through them to put up the dishes. That wasn't the only thing I saw either. Several times I caught him refreezing items that had melted on the trip home and I even caught him using an energy beam to heat up a meal once (by the look on his face I'd have to say that trick didn't go according to plan). A few minutes later, I saw him walking through to door on one of the many occasions he'd gotten in without his keys.

He did the same tricks over and over again and I was once again about to call it a night after seeing him walk through to door for the fifth time when I realized I had finally caught up to tonight's footage. This time it wasn't him that walked through that door.

I saw Phantom walk in, looking only mildly better than he had been when he left me earlier. He plopped down on the couch, obviously exhausted, then I saw the twin rings form around his waist once again. Just as I had thought I'd seen earlier, Phantom became Fenton. I wasn't simply imagining things. Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person.

My hand subconsciously made the segment of video play back over and over again as I took it in. Finally, I stopped and got up. I wasn't going to let Danny lie to me anymore, either he was going to tell me himself, or I was going to flat out tell him what I knew.

I went back to the living room and saw that he was still sitting on the couch. He saw me standing there and spoke up.

"What's up Sam?" He asked innocently. He didn't have a clue what was coming to him.

"Are you going to tell me the truth, or are you gonna keep lying to me?"

He managed to stick a genuinely confused look on his face before he spoke again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you going to tell me how the hell you got in earlier, or are you going to sit here and lie again?" He stiffened just a little at that, apparently I wasn't supposed to call him out on his lie.

"I already told you how I got in. You left the door unlocked." I briefly noticed it was a little harder to tell he was lying when he already knew what he was going to say, but it was still clear as daylight that he wasn't telling me the truth.

"Yes, you did. And now, I'm calling bullshit on that. The truth, now."

He fidgeted a little before speaking again, though I'm not entirely sure if I was meant to hear it or not. "You wouldn't believe me even if I did tell you."

"I somehow doubt that." Even if I hadn't seen his transformation, I still would have been able to believe it, I could do some of the same things after all.

"I'm gonna go to bed." Well, at least he didn't lie this time. He started to walk off, but I wasn't going to take his little bullshitted excuses anymore.

"Get your little ass back here Danny Phantom!" He stopped and cringed.

I heard him mumble something under his breath "And Tucker swore she wouldn't find out."

He turned and addressed me directly this time. "I don't know what you're talking about Sam." Could he be any more obvious?

"That's a damned lie and you know it. I saw you change forms, now I highly suggest you tell me the truth before I beat it out of you." He looked scared for a second before taking a deep breath and finally telling me the truth.

"Alright fine, you caught me. I'm Danny Phantom, just don't tell anyone." He didn't even bother waiting for a response before walking off and slamming his bedroom door behind him.

It was only then that I realized I had completed the mission I was sent here to do. Surely that information alone was enough to satisfy the GIW? There was another question though.

Could I turn him in? Could I really find it in my heart to do turn him over for some rather painful tests when I knew he wasn't really doing anything bad?

* * *

_And the truth finally comes out. :D_

_Feedback and comments are always welcome!_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	15. Frootloops and Half Truths

_And now it's time to meet everyone's most hated frootloop. XD_

* * *

**_Chapter 15: Frootloops and Half-Truths_**

* * *

Days passed as I slowly tried to wrap my mind around the fact that Danny was half ghost. It wasn't that I thought it was impossible, it was that I had been living with him for nearly two months and I hadn't realized who he was. I was supposed to be an expert in the field of the supernatural, and yet I didn't realize my roommate was half ghost until the fact had been shoved in my face. Why hadn't I realized it? Maybe it was because I was too distracted by hormones, or maybe it was the memories that were very slowly beginning to return to me. I didn't want to think about it, I didn't really want to know what had made me so oblivious to the matter at hand.

All these thoughts running around my head did tell me one thing, there was no way in hell I could turn in my (recently rediscovered) childhood friend, especially with this new feeling creeping up on me. I didn't know what it was, all I knew was it was something I had felt before and come to terms with even if I hadn't known how to respond, how to act on it. My heart told me that I loved that goofy hero, but my mind told me that wasn't possible. How could you love someone you barely remembered?

It was the end of November and people were making their holiday plans to return home for Thanksgiving. Well, everyone except Danny and me. Danny chose to stay on campus for the holidays on the account that he honest to god could not stand his guardian, Vlad. I chose to stick around because I couldn't bring myself to face the GIW when I knew I was purposely keeping important information from them. My loyalties were being tested and I hated it with a burning passion.

We had planned to stay at the apartment alone for the week long break, but, as life would have it, that is nowhere near what happened.

It was the first day of break, the day had been rather calm and me and Danny were doing some long overdue cleaning. There were dishes piled up on nearly every surface of the kitchen counter (which Danny cleaned in seconds by simply phasing the food through the dish and into the sink) and Danny had shirts thrown everywhere. When he had first found out I was a girl, he had been a little better about keeping a shirt on around the house, but when the ghosts went into overdrive in their attacks, Danny quickly returned to the habit of throwing his sweaty shirt off the first chance he got. I guess it's a prime example of how old habits die hard, not that I really minded him constantly walking around half naked.

We had just finished getting our apartment back into a presentable state when someone knocked on the door. Danny got up to answer it, and there was a very clear grunt of discontent when he saw the visitor.

"What do you want Vlad?" So much for avoiding his cheesehead of a guardian.

"Is that any way to greet your guardian my dear boy?" I hadn't even met the guy yet and I already hated him. Just his voice was enough to set me on edge.

"It is when you couldn't really care less about them." I fought back the urge to snicker at the remark only because I wasn't sure if Danny wanted Vlad to know I was here or not, he hadn't seen me yet. He hated the guy enough that either was fully possible.

"Now, now, Daniel. We must try to control that temper of yours, hmm?" I've only heard him say something twice and I could already tell this guy was an arrogant asshole.

"I ask again, what the hell do you want Vlad?"

"Is it such a horrible thing to want to spend time with my little adopted _son_?" The way he put stress on that last word made me want to smack the guy upside the head. It was easy to see why Danny didn't like the guy. "Ooh, the scary eyes." There was a flash in the doorway and a yelp of pain from Danny. I decided I didn't even want to know.

"Why thank you for letting me in, Daniel. It was getting quite tiresome to stand out in the cold like that." I caught my first sigh of the infamous Vlad Masters, he looked every bit as arrogant as he sounded. "And this must be your roommate." Shit. Now I was going to have to play nice with the asshole.

I put on my best 'friendly' face before speaking. "I'm Sam." Cue (resentfully) outstretched hand. "You must be Danny's godfather." He took my hand and shook it. If there was an award for the creepiest, most arrogant, asshole on the planet he'd win it by a landslide.

"Master, Vlad Masters. Nice to meet you my boy." He turned his attention back to Danny who was clearly fighting to keep his eyes their normal blue instead of their ghostly green. I couldn't blame him, this guy should really have a neon "Kick me, I'm an asshole" sign floating above his head.

"Alright, Vlad. You've spent all of about two minute with me, you can go. _Now._" His eyes turned green in his glare.

"Ah, but I've just gotten here. I haven't even gotten time to catch up or meet your lovely roommate. You really should be more considerate Daniel." Even I was glaring at him now and for the first time I felt myself on the verge of a change. I swear I felt something flicker in my eyes for half a second before they returned to normal. Was my ghostly power increasing? I had been practicing in the past week since I saw all the tricks Danny had been able to pull with his own power.

There was a knock on the door again. Who the hell could it possibly be? Almost everyone was gone, Lancer and Mrs. Stuth were the only teachers even left on campus. Danny raced to get the door, not even bothering to hide the obvious enthusiasm at getting away from Vlad for even a few seconds.

"Hi, is Sam here?" I recognized the voice even before I saw the face. Shit. Oh shit.

"Yeah, come in I guess." Danny stepped out of the door way, revealing one of the last people I wanted to see right now. Our second visitor of the day stepped inside. It was Cody, the agent responsible for the majority of my training. I actually really liked the guy, he had an odd sense of humor and wasn't afraid to be the butt of a joke.

He saw me and waved. "Hey Sam. How ya doing?" I knew he was going to grill me for any information I had gotten as soon as Danny and Vlad were gone, I seriously hoped Vlad didn't have any intentions of leaving before Cody did.

"Fine. You?" A generic response, I know, but it was all I could say. This may be one of the few people in this world I actually fully trusted, but I couldn't tell him everything that was going on in my life right now. I didn't think he'd be too willing to hear me out before turning me over to our superiors if he knew I was purposely keeping information from the agency.

"Same here." He turned his attention from me to the other two people in the room. "I'm Cody White." He held his hand out first to Vlad, then to Danny. I still didn't understand why almost every single short term cover these guys used had the last name of White. I mean, I guess it was better than using their real last name, but it was still stupid to have so many covers all sharing the exact same last name.

Danny looked like he was about to make his own introduction, but the asshole beat him to it. "Masters, Vlad Masters." He must have said it a million times in order to so perfectly mock the exact same voice he'd used with me earlier. There was something off about this guy that I was liking less and less. "and this is my son, Danny. He's also Sam's roommate."

"I could introduce myself, frootloop." That was not playful, loving teasing. That was clearly meant to be the quickest way to piss Vlad off.

Vlad turned and shot him a glare. I couldn't be sure, I could have sworn I saw his eyes flash red for only a fraction of a second. "For the last time,_ I AM NOT A FROOTLOOP_!" Damn, I had to hand it to Danny, he had apparently managed to get Vlad to show his crazy side in a matter of seconds with one little word.

"Could have fooled me. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You really are one seriously crazed up frootloop." Vlad looked like he was about ready to pull someone's head off. He was scary looking, but damn was it funny to see him this pissed off.

My amusement was short lived when I saw an evil look cross Vlad's face. By the look Danny had, he had noticed it too. "Well then, Daniel, I guess we'll just have to spend some quality _father son_ time to prove I'm not what you think. Come on." He grabbed Danny's wrist and started dragging him towards the door. I'm pretty sure I heard a distinct "Oh shit." come from Danny as he was dragged outside. It was then that I realized I was left all alone with one of the people I'd been planning to betray.

Cody didn't bother to waste any time with more pleasantries. He simply checked the screen of something in his pocket before looking back at me.

"You've got quite a bit of ectoenergy here. Have your powers been increasing?" While they had indeed been getting stronger, I knew that the amount of energy in here was really only that high as a result of the residual energy left by Danny. I knew there was no way in hell I'd be able to get away with lying to this guy, so I resorted to the only tactic I had left. I was going to tell the truth, but not nearly all of it.

"Actually, they have. I've been working with them more lately as I've seen what ghosts can really do." It was true, I had been working with them lately, and since Danny was half ghost there really wasn't a lie in saying I'd been playing with my own powers only after seeing his.

Hmm, good to know. Do you have any information on the ghost kid yet?" Oh, that was going to be a hard one to get around.

"No, not yet." This was technically true, though I was walking on thin ice with that one. I knew all sorts of things about Danny Fenton, but I didn't know a whole lot about the creation of Danny Phantom.

"He hasn't been around much then I suppose?"

"No, he's been keeping a pretty low profile." Again, this was true, but only barely. I'd seen Fenton all the time, but he really did try to keep a low profile as Phantom.

Cody leaned forward with an odd look on his face. "Would you mind telling me why there were three distinct ectosignatures in this room when I got here and only yours now?"

"Three?" This really did throw me for a loop, I'd known there would be mine and Danny's but where the hell had the third come from? My ghost sense hadn't gone off, so where had the ghost been?

Unless it hadn't come from a full ghost. Was it possible? Vlad had seemed so human, but he was also the only other person who had been here. I had seen his eyes flash red for a split second earlier, and it would explain why Danny didn't care about keeping his eyes their human color around him.

"Yes, Sam. There were three. Where did the other two come from?"

I was back to telling my little half-truths. "I have no idea." What? I really didn't know how either of them had been created, it was close enough.

* * *

_Questions? Comments? Concerns? Review! ...I promise I'll get around to replying one of these days...when my mind decides to let me think about something other than this story for more than five minutes. XD_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	16. In the Mind of a Spy

**_Chapter 16: In the Mind of a Spy_**

* * *

How the bloody hell had I gotten myself into being forced to spend a few hours with Vlad? And more importantly, how the bloody hell had he managed to short out my powers without me realizing it before it was too late? Now I was stuck with this damned frootloop for at least the three hours my powers were shorted out. Oh, and let's not forget the little detail that he literally has me on an invisible leash so I can't make a break for it the second his back is turned. I physically could not get more than about ten feet away from the guy, and even without my ghost hearing that was more than close enough to be forced to hear every crazy word that came out of his mouth.

He dragged me around for hours, declared he was going to be staying at the already too small apartment I shared with Sam, dragged me around some more, and then shocked me once again when my powers returned. Why the hell couldn't I have a guardian that couldn't care less if I suddenly disappeared of the face of the planet? How was it that I was not only a halfa, freak extraordinaire, but also (at the moment) literally tied to the biggest frootloop to ever walk the Earth? Did the universe just not like me or something? I mean seriously, would it have been too much to ask for to get someone slightly less crazy for a godfather? Then again, he did come from my dad's pool of friends, so this could easily be the most sane of the bunch.

"Daniel? Are you even listening to me?" I mentally debated whether or not to lie to him about that for a second before deciding the truth would irritate him more.

"Of course not. Why would I listen to a seriously crazed up frootloop like yourself?" The look on his face was priceless, even if it lasted for only a moment.

"Why did I expect any differently? Honestly, Daniel, I could have been telling you all about my latest plan and you wouldn't have heard even a word of it." This was true, but did I really want him to know that? Nope.

"Well, considering you are the biggest frootloop known to man, I really don't think it would matter." I loved how pissed off he got when I called him that, it was by far my favorite nickname for him.

He didn't bother responding to that with more than a grumble, so I deemed it safe to go back to my daydreams without ever knowing what the hell he had been talking about in the first place. Knowing him, it was probably something to do with the businesses he had inherited by overshadowing the owners, not that anyone would ever know that.

I barely even noticed it when we finally returned to the apartment, it was only Sam's (slightly over enthusiastic) greeting that made me snap out of my musings long enough to realize where we were.

Almost as soon as we entered the apartment, Cody let himself out, muttering something about staying at a hotel down the street. Good, I could be a little more relentless with the usage of my powers against Vlad. Sam eyed Vlad and was clearly less than happy about seeing him again, who could blame her? Vlad came off as the seriously crazed up frootloop of an asshole that he was even before you met the guy. She suddenly came forward and grabbed my wrist.

"We need to talk." That was all she said before she dragged me to her room. What came next was something else I had cluelessly missed even though I lived with her.

OoO

It was about the time that I realized Vlad was not only a crazy asshole but also a halfa that I decided I needed to tell Danny the truth. I looked at the clock, Danny had been gone for nearly six hours and I was here entertaining Cody all by myself while also trying not to let anything slip. It was harder than you'd think. He was a master at slipping the questions I wanted to avoid most into typical conversation. Had he not taught me the same technique for making people slip up, I probably would have fallen for it. He was my teacher, but I was simply better at it.

"So, do you know where Phantom is now?" That had to be the tenth time he had asked me that.

"I didn't know ten minutes ago, and I sure as hell don't know now." It was true, I didn't have a clue where Vlad had dragged Danny off to.

Thankfully, it was only moments after those words left my mouth that Danny and the frootloop walked through the door (like normal people, not ghosts, they did have a secret to keep).

"Hey Danny!" Yeah, I know. It was a little too over enthusiastic, but I couldn't help myself, The sooner Cody quit asking questions, the better. Cody finally got up and left, muttering something about a hotel down the street. He turned to Vlad in what could have been nothing more than a friendly greeting had I not been paying better attention. I refuse to believe it was than just a trick of the light, but I could have sworn Cody's eyes flashed for a split second right before he left. There was no way that had actually happened? Right?

I decided that the sooner I got the impending conversation with Danny out of the way, the sooner, the better. I grabbed his wrist and dragged the surprised boy to my room. The door was closed as soon as we entered it, and my hand found the hidden button to activate my mini ghost shield not even a second after. The shield was designed to cut off barely an inch inside the walls of the room, and only fractions of an inch above and under the floor and ceiling. Danny couldn't get out if he tried to make a run for it, and Vlad sure as hell couldn't get in if he tried. Danny's ears perked up at the sound of the shield coming to life, he was apparently very familiar with it.

"How the hell did you get ahold of a ghost shield?" Yup, he knew what it was alright. I didn't know why, but I could feel another memory tugging at my mind that would tell me as soon as it surfaced.

"You'll know soon." The whole 'I'm a secret agent' bit was scheduled to be discussed near the end of this conversation.

I focused my energy into forming an ectoshield around us. There was more than on reason for this:

The first being that it would help to show my own spectral powers.

The second being that I had discovered the shield was soundproof yesterday when I hadn't heard Danny practically screaming my name from the other side of my door until I had decided to stop practicing and put the shield down.

Danny looked irritated for a second before speaking. "I swear, if this is Vlad's doing, I'll relieve him of the half of his life he has left."

"That's not Vlad, that's me. And for the record, the ghost shield is as much to keep him out as it is to keep you in." The look on his face had a very clear "What the hell?" written on it.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" He shot me another look, this one was more of a "What did I miss this time" than a "What the hell?" look. I was honestly surprised that he hadn't responded with some smart remark for that one. He just sat there silently, letting his facial expressions do the talking for him.

"Did it ever once occur to you to wonder how the hell all of these got in the wall?" I placed my hand to the wall to reveal all the knick-knacks he already knew where there. "And don't even try to say you never saw this, I know it's where you got that damned picture of me." A slight look of shame crossed his face before he finally spoke up.

"Will you just get on with it?" He was getting restless.

"Okay, if you haven't figured it out by now, you really are both clueless and hopeless." He scowled. He was appreciating the fact that I kept purposely pushing his buttons. It was fun, there's really no other reason for it. "I'm part ghost just like you, bright one." His face finally lit up in realization. "And the clueless one finally gets it."

"Why are you just now telling me this?" Shit, he just had to ask that question right off the bat, didn't he?

"That's the more complicated part." He raised an eyebrow at this, a clear "go on" look plastered on his face. "Part of it is because I only recently discovered the true potential of my powers from watching you, I really have no idea how much ghostly power I have…" I trailed off here. I was not looking forward to the next bit of this conversation.

"And the rest of it is…?" Here it comes…

"Well…uh…you see… I kinda, sorta, maybe, might have been sent here to spyonyourghostlyform." I said the last bit as fast as I could, and added in the best innocent smile I could manage in for good measure.

Needless to say, he was speechless for a minute.

"WHAT?!"

"See, that's the kind of reaction I was preparing for with the ectoplasmic shield." The sarcasm was probably not my best response, but it was my last defense. Sarcasm was the one thing that I had never forgotten how to use even when I lost my memories.

"What the hell?! And I actually trusted you?!"

"Hey! At least I didn't come after you guns blazing like your ghost obsessed parents would have!" I was remembering that as I said it and suddenly realized why he recognized the sound of the ghost shield when it first started up.

I looked back at him and saw his face go blank. It was then that I realized I had hit a sore spot. He was about to get trapped in his head again, this was not the way I had planned on this conversation going. I did the only thing I knew to do and called our peg-legged best friend before lowering both shields. I already knew both of them were going to at least try to kill me when Danny managed to wrangle himself free of his memories.

And to top it all off, Vlad had decided to crash on our couch for the week. Great.

* * *

_Uhg, I really need more practice with dialouge... Oh well, it gets the point across. :P_

_Reviews are more than welcome as always!  
(Note to self, actually get around to responding to said reviews... :P)_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	17. Curveball

_I finally got around to answering some reviews! :D Be proud of me, be very, very proud. :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 17: Curveball_**

* * *

As soon as Tucker was in the room to help Danny back into reality, I was out the door. I knew they were both going to have my head on their walls as soon as Danny was far enough out of his own mind to remember the conversation that took him there. I had originally planned to give Vlad a "friendly" greeting before running off, but he was nowhere to be found in the small apartment. I didn't think anything of it until I was about to open the door only to hear voices right outside it. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but I did know damn well who those voices belonged to: Vlad and Cody.

What the hell would those two have to discuss? My curiosity got the best of me and I turned invisible as I walked through the door without opening it. I really was getting better with my powers, but Vlad seemed to know someone was there, he just didn't care enough to do anything about it.

"And you're quite sure that Daniel doesn't know of Samantha's little secret or vice versa?" What the hell?

"Of course not, she was too scared by this meat puppet's body to even try lying to it." Okay, I do believe this has officially upgraded form a 'What the hell?' to a 'What the fuck?'

"I always knew Daniel was clueless, but I thought someone of Samantha's standing would be a little more vigilant." Cody (or whatever was controlling him) just shook his head. "You have everything in place?" Wait, what the hell did they need to put in place?

"Naturally, neither Phantom will know what hit them. Things are progressing as expected."

"Good. Now get out of my sight before you get hit with the device as well." Cody, or rather his body, left. Vlad started muttering some incoherent nonsense. I tried to pick apart his words enough to figure out what the hell he was saying, but this took enough of my concentration that I faded back into visibility. His head snapped in my direction, he'd seen me, Well, curiousity did kill the cat.

"Who are you, and what the hell are you doing here?" Wow, this guy must have some serious short term memory issues, we just met not even half an hour ago.

I was about to use some hand gesture to accompany my sarcastic remark to that, but something caught my eye. It wasn't my normal human hand I was holding out, it was a gloved one. Where the hell had the glove come from? I looked down instinctively when I saw my newly gloved hand and from there saw a boot that I most certainly wasn't wearing before. I didn't have a clue how to answer Vlad anymore, so I answered with the first thing that came to my mind before I flew off.

"I am so outta here." And with that I turned and made a run for it, briefly noting that I wasn't actually running, I was flying.

I do believe this whole situation should once again be promoted, this time to the status of "What the fucking hell is going on here?!"

* * *

How many times was I going to be forced to relive that damned memory? Hadn't I suffered enough? Did I really deserve more pain?

Tucker was sitting next to me when I finally returned to the reality that was the present. Tucker was there, but Sam was gone. It was just like a traitor to run off the first chance she got. It was only seconds after that thought crossed my mind that I ghost girl appeared in the room. I noted her striking resemblance to Sam before another though hit me. Oh no, there was no fucking way. It just couldn't be, but somehow I knew it was. The girl before was wearing a black jumpsuit much like my own only it was missing my signature logo and the boots, gloves, and belt were different colors. Where mine were silver, hers were a blood red. It wasn't a bright fire truck red, it was a darker, muted red, one that was dark enough to fit her gothic preferences perfectly.

It was only remembering exactly who was in front of me that snapped me out of my thought. "Sam?" Her face flushed with relief, probably only because I hadn't started shooting her yet.

Empathsis on the yet.

"So you were hiding even more than you bothered to tell me earlier. You mentioned ghost powers, but I do believe you failed to make a remark about having an entire spectral form." Her face fell. Good, I had meant for that to hurt her, as far as I was concerned, she deserved it.

"Danny, I honestly don't even have a clue how the hell this happened!" I wanted to be able to call bullshit on that so bad, but I just couldn't. Sam was pretty damn good at lying, enough so that if she wasn't a traitor, I'd probably ask her for a few pointers. But while she may be good at lying, her eyes always had a habit of showing her true emotion, and right now her eyes were happily backing up her statement.

"Just tell me how to change back, please?" Damn it, she was giving me the puppy dog eyes, the ones she hated to use but were only beaten by the ones Danielle could conjure up. Why the hell were girls so damn good at begging?

I sighed, the puppy dog eyes were not going to let me get away with not at least trying to help. And if I couldn't get her to change back on her own. I could always beat the shit out of her for betraying us until she blacked out and changed back naturally.

What? She may be a girl, but she was also a half ghost spy that did try to betray me and was hell bent on fitting in at an all-boys school. I had my reasons.

"What were you doing when you first changed?" If I could figure out how she got there in the first place, perhaps I could more easily explain how to change back to her.

"All I did walked through the door and turn invisible to see what the hell Vlad and Cody were talking about outside. When I shifted back into visibility, I was like this. Now, how the hell do I change back?" She was seriously pissed about this. I think it was more the fact that she didn't know what the hell was going on than the fact that she was a ghost that was bugging her though. Damn, she was going to hate my answer with a burning passion.

"I really don't know." She gave her best glare, she same one that she had given to me the first time I had walked into her room without knocking first. God, that seems so perverted now, but I didn't know she was a girl back then!

"If you don't know, then why the hell did you act like you could help?" I hadn't noticed it before, but hell really did seem to be her favorite word. Pointless to note, I know, but funny all the same considering most people would swear she was going there when she finally died.

"I was hoping something you did would let me help you, but since you changed subconsciously, I really don't have a clue. All I have to do is think about my white rings and they pop up."

"They aren't white, they're an extremely bright blue." She muttered, why she was so intent on correcting me, I will never know. "You just think about the rings, huh? Then maybe…" There was a flash of light, and human Sam was standing before us.

Damn, I no longer had a viable excuse for beating the shit out of her.

* * *

_Hmm... I wonder what Vlad and "Cody" are planning... Well, at least you do! :P_

_As always, I would love (and practically beg) to get reviews! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	18. Piece By Piece

_Eek! I feel so bad about not updating this last night! :( I got busy and then when I finally sat down this chapter refused to write itself..._

_The good news is it wrote itself tonight and is twisting the plot just a little bit more. :D_

* * *

**_Chapter 18: Piece By Piece_**

* * *

I felt the change wash over me as I somehow managed to form the rings that reverted me back from ghost to human. Damn, that feeling was going to take some getting used to. I could feel every cell in my body changing, but at the same time I felt nothing at all, there was no pain only change.

Danny was still pissed at me, it didn't take a mind reader to figure that out. The glare he was happily giving me at the moment could have rivaled my own. I then realized I had been the one to teach him how to glare in an attempt to make him less of a target for the bullies. It failed miserably, but I had a feeling it helped in his ghost battles.

"Are you going to explain yourself? Or are you just going to stand there staring?" Okay, correction, he wasn't just pissed, he was _really_ pissed.

"What do you want me to explain?" Yup, I was just putting off the inevitable. With any luck, he would actually accept my explanation and not try to kill me.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the part where you were planning on betraying me?" Wow…way to make a girl feel guilty there Danny.

"Danny, do you really think I'd tell you all of that if I really planned on turning you in? I'm not that stupid." He just looked at me for a minute, considering, then he grabber Tucker's arm and phased through the walls to his room. Well, he didn't try to kill me, I did have that bit going for me.

Danny didn't bother coming back to talk to me later that night and he didn't even acknowledge me the next morning either. He kept this up all week, only bothering to speak to me when Vlad managed to practically force him into it. Even then I think he only did it to avoid questions. It was only a week, but it hurt like hell to have him close off to me so completely like that. I felt old feelings and emotions resurfacing every time I saw him. It was something I'd felt years ago before we were separated, but as never brave enough to admit. I loved him, and it hurt like high hell to know I had caused him so much pain.

Classes started up again that Monday, and with the return of classes Vlad was finally forced to leave us the hell alone. I sat through each class, trying to pay attention and failing miserably. Danny was on my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about the pain I'd caused him, He'd trusted me the same way he had before I had disappeared from his life and now he knew what I had originally been sent here to do. Both his heart and trust had been broken, and it was going to take one whole hell of a lot of work to get it back.

That was when another thing hit me, how did I know his heart had been broken? Even then something else was bugging me more. Was his heart broken on a friendship level of betrayal, or was it broken on a deeper level?

After a week and a half of being completely ignored, I simply couldn't take it anymore. I still had no way of making Danny talk to me, but I did have someone else I could go to. Mrs. Stuth did say she would always be there if I ever needed anything.

I sat through her class fifth period, the second to last class of the day. Normally, I wouldn't even try to skip a class, but this was important to me and I had a distinct feeling she could help me get away with skipping my sixth period if she wanted to, even if it was a class with Lancer. She had sixth period off, so I knew she would talk to me if I approached her. The problem was convincing myself to actually start a conversation with the teacher.

Everyone was long gone from the room. Danny and Tucker were out within seconds just as they had been yesterday and the day before that, no doubt avoiding me, every other student was sane enough to get out of any teacher's classroom with in a minute of the bell.

The teacher looked up from the papers littering her desk.

"Well, are you just going to stand there and stare or are you actually going to say something?" This was going to be a long talk.

* * *

"What the hell are you up to, Clockwork?" We were actually on pretty good terms, but right now I was seriously pissed at the whole situation and just wanted answers. I knew that he would know the reasons behind my behavior, that didn't stop me from feeling slightly guilty about it after getting my temper back under control though.

"Time has the potential to take many twists and turns, this turn was for the best." Would it have killed the guy to give me a straight answer for once? I mean really, all he ever did was give me a cryptic answer like he expected the resident C-student to actually figure it out.

"I'm seriously not in the mood for riddles right now, Clockwork." My anger was beginning to surface again. I knew it wasn't his fault but the riddles he kept feeding me were only getting more and more frustrating.

"Your friend is alive, what else could you possibly have to ask for?"

"You saved her."

"Yes." Well, it wasn't really what I wanted him to say, but at least it wasn't another riddle. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure I knew what I wanted him to say.

"But why save her only to have her memories wiped?"

"She is recovering her memories, is she not? They were suppressed, young Phantom, not wiped." Okay…I had to admit he had a perfectly valid, and straight point there.

"That still doesn't' change the fact that she was going to turn me in!"

"But she hasn't, and in case you hadn't realized it yet, won't." I admit, I had come in here demanding straight answers, but to actually get some out of Clockwork seemed a little off.

* * *

I watched as the latest student to come under my wing left my office. School had let out over an hour ago, but our little conversation had lasted well over the original hour I had planned it to be. Sam was a unique one, and I had no doubt she would figure out what to do, I just hoped she fit the pieces together before it was too late.

My dreams had a tendency to become reality when it came to Danny, I never have told him about my little psychic visions. Something big was about to happen, and if Sam didn't solve the mystery soon, Danny wouldn't have a chance. The answer was in her memories, but it sadly looked like the one she needed most would be one of the last to resurface. All she needed to know was right in front of her face, but also locked in the deepest recesses of her mind.

Her powers hadn't come from floating aimlessly in the ghost zone for hours, maybe even days. In reality, it was the fact that her powers were preexisting that probably kept her alive. They also hadn't come from being so close when the original Fenton Portal exploded. She'd been born with them, but no one was willing to admit where they came from. Her parents really didn't have a clue, but her Grandma Ida had known all along. She'd tried to help Sam develop her powers, but her parent's had called her abilities freaky and unnatural.

It's really no wonder Sam had tried (and actually succeeded) in suppressing the memories of her powers.

* * *

_Muhahahaha! ...now I feel really, really evil... Oh well, being evil can be fun! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	19. Ghostly Reminders

_This is a pathetically short chapter, but it's there to give a little more background to the latest twist in the plot and something else coming up..._

_I tried for a third person view here...I never realized how hard that was until I wrote this..._

* * *

**_Chapter 19: Ghostly Reminders_**

* * *

Ghost powers, oh how they can make the world such a complicated thing. Once they enter a strain of DNA they become just like any other genetic trait when passed down to the offspring. It's never dominant or recessive, it simply comes and goes as it pleases, looking for some way to remind its family of hosts that it's still there. Ghostly energy just waiting for the right person to host its full potential once again, waiting for someone to bring it back to half-life.

Who would have known moving to Amity Park would reawaken the reclusive gene? Sam's parents hadn't known the gene even existed until good old Grandma came along to explain Sam's weird abilities. Apparently, a look back through Grandma's family tree leads to the original halfa to enter the family line. Somewhere in the early 1800s a young woman happened upon a natural ghost portal. Let's just say the ghosts weren't so happy to see her there.

No one knew how she survived such a massive ectoblast, even if she had existed in this time period no one would have known. It shouldn't have been possible; it was a blast of energy with unmatched power. Then again, in a way, she didn't actually survive, she was still half-dead after that incident.

Grandma Ida actually paid attention to her family's past, even if almost no one else did. Then again, one has to remember she saw these powers emerge in her own mother a little over a hundred years after they were initially introduced to the family line. Even with this knowledge, Sam had surprised Ida, it hadn't been heard of the great-grandchild of the last family halfa to be one as well, it was generally considered too soon for the power to reemerge.

Ida watched the child grow up, and used her memories of her deceased mother to help the child along. Just because her ghost half should have been there so soon after the last didn't mean she shouldn't have a little help learning to use it. Then again, there was the problem of Pamela and Jeremy. It simply wouldn't be proper for a young lady to be half ghost. No, no. It simply wouldn't do. Samantha had to conform to society's standard to keep the family in good graces, and the population did not like the idea of ghosts. Why bother trying to change society when it was so much easier to simply reform a child.

They started punishing Sam for the use of her naturally given talents, often calling her a freak of nature in order to further get their point across. Ida tried to reassure the child, telling her it was nothing to be ashamed of, but Sam wouldn't have it. She wanted to be herself, but she couldn't stand her own parents calling her a freak. It just wasn't right. Being the young five year old she was, her mind found its own way of solving the problem. Why cause more problems by trying not to use the powers around her parents when it was simpler to simply forget they ever existed? It was a last defense Sam used without even realizing it, her subconscious knew it wouldn't work if she was fully aware it was happening.

Grandma Ida was not happy to see the child so ashamed of what came to her naturally she simply blocked it out. Sam's parents didn't appreciate the change either, though for different reasons.

Once she had blocked her powers out of her mind, Sam became more unruly and less accepting of what her parents considers normal. She didn't want to be normal, and considering what she had but let waste away forgotten, this wasn't much of a surprise. Pamela and Jeremy got more and more annoyed with Sam's blatant disregard for what a girl should be in favor what she wanted to be. They were particularly thrown off when she went Goth. Ida just sat and watched, getting quite a bit of amusement out of the parents' irritation. This was their fault after all. Perhaps if they hadn't condoned the usage of Sam's talents they might have been able to keep her closer to what society expected her to be instead of what they wanted her to be.

Grandma only found it more entertaining when Pamela and Jeremy found out about the local ghost nuts whose son Sam had befriended. It would be up to Sam as to whether or not she ever found her ghost half again, but Grandma was certainly going to laugh at her parents growing frustration as Sam continued to go her own path instead of taking the one already laid down for her.

Needless to say, while Pamela and Jeremy were grief-stricken at the loss of their only daughter, Grandma Ida fared worse than they did. She had accepted what Sam wanted to be throughout the years, never batting an eye when Sam made her most recent choice to defy the role the world thought she was supposed to take.

* * *

_Note to self: Things written in the third person do not like to write themselves. :P_

_I'd love to here comments and feedback as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	20. Live Feed

_This chapter didn't want to be written at first, but Danny came along and talked some sense into it. :P_

* * *

_**Chapter 20: Live Feed**_

* * *

My mind was in constant battle with itself. Part of it wanted to believe that Sam had meant it when she told me she wasn't going to turn me in, part of me wanted to fall back on past experience: never trust someone twice, if they've hurt you once they'll do it again. The only reason I didn't fall back on that immediately was the fact that this was Sam, the best friend of my childhood, the girl of my dreams before she disappeared.

There was only one way to settle this, and Sam was going to kill me several times over when she found out. I had no doubt she would, she seemed to catch everything else. I took a day off from school, calling in sick to the front office, and waited for Sam to leave the apartment. She came out of her room in her usual preference of all black, seeing as the only thing students were required to wear was a pin with the school emblem. The door closed and I phased into her room finding it odd that she didn't bother to keep her ghost shield up when she was out. Maybe it gave her problems getting back in with her powers?

I spotted her laptop sitting on the desk opposite the door, it was opened, but under a firm password lock. If it was a normal student's computer, I would have taken a crack at it myself, seeing as I have learned a few things from Tucker, but this was the computer of a spy so I'd need Tucker to get into this one. Tucker was more than willing to get his ass over here to help, he found hacking computers much more entertaining than English.

Tucker sat there for what felt like hours, but was really only thirty minutes. I had to give Sam credit on the security of her files, it rarely took Tucker more than ten minutes to get into something. We weren't entirely sure what we were looking for, but we knew it when we saw it. Sam had passworded the hell out of anything that looked even remotely important. Passwords were easy to crack and Tucker had each one out of the way in almost no time flat, however considering there were five per file those 'almosts' were adding up fast. Twenty minutes later, we finally had full access to everything.

* * *

There was a little ping in on the microscopic screen in my eye. Not many people knew it was possible to put a fully functional screen inside something as small as a contact lens, but then again, most people also didn't have the ectoplasm required to power it. Alone, the screen couldn't do anything it was programmed to, it simply didn't have the power, but once it came in contact with something that had even the faintest traces of ectoplasm, it lit right up. I was the only one in the agency that could use it without having the long term effects of being subjected to unnatural ectoplasm, the stuff I generated on my own was more than enough to power it.

I saw the little icon on the screen and made the eye movement required to open the notification. The screen in one eye promptly became less transparent to show inform me that someone was in my room without permission. I switched to a video feed, now barely paying any attention to Lancer droning on and on about something or another. Danny was in my room, and Tucker was on my laptop. I watched the boys, I had never actually seen Tucker at work. He didn't fail to deliver, his skills breaking into the main computer in half an hour, not even the best of the GIW could have pulled that off. Another twenty minutes, and all my classified files were open to the world. I could have pushed them out at any time with a backup system I had, but I didn't. In the back of my mind, I knew what Danny was looking for. He wanted some sort of proof I really wasn't planning on turning him in.

He would find it, I was sure. Hopefully, he'd trust me again when he did.

* * *

Sam had more information on me than I did tucked away on her computer. The only thing she didn't have in the files was my ghost half. I didn't know if she simply hadn't gotten around to updating them yet, or if she simply wasn't going to. She had video footage of me from around the house, every room but mine had apparently been bugged for weeks now. She must not have checked it very often, if she did she would have found out about my powers well before she did.

Thanks to Tuck, I knew anyone from the GIW could get into these files if they wanted to, so maybe it really was a good sign that Sam hadn't added the detail of my secret to her computer.

The mini mouse in my hand found its way to the email icon on her desktop and Tucker spent another five minutes trying to get into it. In that time frame, I realized it was just oo easy to get into this stuff, even for us. Surely Sam had a way of knowing people were getting into her stuff and had a way of keeping them out? Was it possible she was letting us see what she had hidden away in an attempt to prove her innocence?

I was already close to deciding to give her another chance by the time Tuck got into her email account, what we found in there only solidified my decision. There were multiple encrypted emails in there begging for information, but her responses flat out denied it even before she knew about my secret.

Sam really didn't want to turn me in. It was about damn time I started trusting her again.

* * *

Classes were boring as hell as always, so I entertained myself by watching the reactions of Danny and Tucker as they sifted through my computer files. If they were going to sneak into my room, I had every right to find amusement in their reactions, it was only fair.

They spent hours on my laptop, and I let them see everything they wanted to even if it did slightly irritate me that they had the nerve to go through my email. I had to fight back the urge to kick them out right then and there when they got into that. The only thing that repressed that urge was the knowledge that if I did that they would assume the worst and there would be no turning back, their trust would be broken beyond repair.

I sat bored throughout each class as I always did with nothing out of the ordinary happening. At least, nothing happened until I reached my last class of the day. I had known for the past half hour I'd actually have to sit through science without any form of entertainment as Danny and Tucker had long since found what they needed, then again, maybe it's a good thing I no longer had them to distract me. Mr. Faluka was out sick, which isn't anything too far out of the ordinary, teachers do have to miss school too sometimes. What got me wasn't the fact that we had a substitute, it was the name of said sub.

I walked into the room and my jaw nearly dropped as I saw the name written on the board, it was one I knew well even if I couldn't remember my relation to it.

The board read "Mrs. Ida Manson".

* * *

_Does that count as a cliffhanger? :P_

_Don't kill me!_

_Comments and feeback are welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	21. Wisdom

_...wow...this took me way longer than normal...I kept getting distracted by other fan-fics. XD_

* * *

**_Chapter 12: Wisdom_**

* * *

I sat through class silently, watching the woman up front with a keen eye. She had naturally grabbed my interest by sharing my last name, but it was more than that causing me to gravitate towards here. She held the same sort of unremembered familiarity that Danny had before I knew who the hell he was. The third thing that caught my interest was the very poorly hidden look of recognition that flickered on her face upon seeing mine at roll call. That look didn't last long, but I still caught it.

The end of class approached, and the sub spoke up just as I was leaving well behind the rest of the student body.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Sam?" She just called me Sam. How the hell had she known to call me Sam? I hadn't told her to call me anything other than Samuel when roll was taken.

"Sure, I guess. Why?" Yeah, that didn't come out as smooth or fearless as I had intended it to…

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Well, I was sure I was supposed to, but that didn't mean I did.

"I assume I don't know what I'm supposed to about you." She was way too familiar, rivaling the feeling I had about Danny before I got at least some of my memories back. I obviously was still missing something huge.

"I thought not, you wouldn't have been early as quiet if you did. Samantha Manson," She knew my real name, how the hell did she know my name? "I'm your grandmother." Oh. Well…that explains how she knows my name.

At my questioning, both verbal and silent, she went on to tell stories of my past even before I ever met Danny. As she told me of my youngest years, I was met with a vivid memory finally breaking free of its restraints as her voice brought it back to me. There were a few details she left out about the events, but my memory told me anyway and often told me why she didn't know those details. She had started with her most recent memories of me and gone backwards from there. This told me that there was something huge in the first five years or so of my life that she knew would shock me. She was smart to leave that for well after I knew to trust her to drop something huge on my shoulders.

She was almost to that part in her story when Danny came flying through the wall, closely followed by Ember.

"Had enough, Dipstick?" Oh, this was about to get very messy very fast.

"I think the only worse than your songs are your insults." Ah, witty banter. Gotta love it.

Ember lifted a hand right above the strings of her guitar and I decided to take action. I didn't have a clue what that thing did, but considering it was the only item she had on her that could be even remotely deadly, I knew it wasn't gonna be pretty. She struck out at Danny, and when she missed it headed straight for my recently discovered grandmother and I. In the split second before it would have hit, I decided I simply didn't give a damn whether or not my grandma knew my secret and threw up an ecto shield.

Danny saw what I had done and just had to respond with some sort of sarcastic remark. "You know Sam, most people wouldn't want random old ladies to know their secret."

"Well, it's a damn good thing she's not just a random old lady then, isn't it?" I retorted.

He looked back at me confused, he was just going to wait for an explanation as Ember had just caught his attention again with another blast from her guitar of death.

"Got a new helper there, Babypop?" God, her insults really did suck. Even I could come up with better one ones on the fly.

"Only if you have, McLame." Danny could work on his insults too…I think he's better at smart remarks than belittling names. I'm gonna have to work with him on that some, I can't have my best friend of a half-ghost going around making a fool out of himself with such crappy insults. It simply would not do.

I once again looked at my Grandmother before deciding to jump in and help in my ghost form. I triggered my rings with the ease that could only come from the training I'd been putting in over the past few weeks. I barely looked at the woman behind me as I spoke again.

"I hope this doesn't freak you out beyond repair." Her response was one nobody would have ever expected.

"Please, child. I've known about that for years. It's good to see you've found your ghost half again." Oh, this was going to take one whole hell of a lot of explaining on her part.

"A little help here Sam?" Oh, right. There's a fight going on.

"I'm coming Danny." There was a look of realization right before I turned away from my grandma. I knew that look all too well, it was the same one I often got when something suddenly made a world of sense. Well, I hope Danny doesn't mind my grandma knowing his secret.

Once I managed to get my head in the game, Ember was really a pretty easy fight. I was catching on to the use of my powers pretty fast and I think I surprised Danny with my improvement. Every new thing I tried seemed so natural, as if I'd done it for years, way longer than I actually remembered having the powers. She was in a Fenton Thermos within ten minutes and I changed back to my human form to face my grandmother…and Danny's wrath as soon as he realized she knew his secret.

"Now that that's out of the way, do you mind telling me who the random old lady is?" Gee, talk about having no respect for your elders.

"She's my grandmother, Danny." He raised an eyebrow, then a look of recognition finally crossed his face. I'm surprised it took him that long to remember her, we did spend quite a bit of time with her when we were younger.

"I thought you said you didn't know where any of your family was." I realized he hadn't changed back to his human form, he did realize that didn't change the fact that Grandma Manson knew, right?

"I didn't until about two hours ago. A little after you and Tucker finished going through my laptop, by the way." He winced. Was he under the impression I wouldn't know about that? Sure, most of the GIW couldn't catch a ghost if their lives depended on it, but that didn't mean we didn't know how to keep tabs on important information.

"She's not GIW is she?" Really, Danny? Really?

"No, bright one. Don't you think I would have known better than to transform in front of her if she was?" Seriously, I knew every single GIW agent in existence. Even though they did know I was part ghost and held some power, I still wouldn't show them the full potential of it, not now.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I'll just leave you to finish your conversation with your grandmother then Sam." He turned to leave and was nearly intangible when my grandmother spoke up.

"Not so fast Daniel Fenton." Cue the commanding voice that only a Manson Grandmother could have. "I haven't seen you in two and a half years, you are not going to leave that easily."

"What is it with you two calling out the name of the form that I'm NOT currently in?"

"Hey, we only did that to prove we knew who you were. Really Danny, you can be so dense sometimes." Suddenly, an odd look crossed his face as it finally set in that my grandma knew his secret and he hadn't told her.

"You told her?!" Granny, I love you to death, but you better help me out with this one if I can't get myself out of the doghouse here.

"I didn't tell her Danny. She figured it out herself." Granny picked this moment to finally speak up.

"It's true Danny. It didn't take much to figure it out after I saw you two interacting much the same way you did when you were younger. That kind of friendship isn't one that is missed easily by eyes as wise as mine." I honestly hadn't known what she was going to say, but it apparently satisfied Danny as he (reluctantly) stayed put and changed back to his human form.

"Happy Danny?" I turned my attention back to my grandmother. "Are you going to finish your story?"

* * *

_This may have been better placed at the begining...but I didn't feel like it so bleh! :P_

_On a more serious, and certaily much sadder, note..._

_There is about a 99% chance that I will not be able to update for a few days near the weekend. My great-grandfather (...I think...don't ask...that side of the family tree is seriously messed up) died this morning. :'( I assume the funeral will be sometime this weekend, and I won't be able to write or update until I get home. :(_

_Now that that's out of the way..._

_Feedback and comments are welcome as always! :)_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	22. Beating the Odds

_Yet another pathetically short chapter... Oh well, it does go through quite a few important tidbits of information... :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 22: Beating the Odds_**

* * *

Grandma Ida had just finished her story, and I was still taking it all in. It explained a few things once and for all, but that didn't make it any easier to process. I'd been born half ghost, something that should have been impossible in and of its self. It explained why my powers where coming to me so easily now. I'd already had five or six years of practice in my childhood, those years were just hidden away, locked up in a box that no one could get into. Then there was the fact that my blood line alone was more than enough reason for the ghosts to come after me.

The Manson line had a history of not only producing halfas, but also ones that were very strong in their spectral prowess. The strength of these halfas varied between each individual from a combination of the time they spent training and the strength of the gene itself. It was theorized that the fewer generations separating the current halfa and the previous one, the stronger the current hybrid would be. There's really no scientific evidence behind this (how could you get any for something that shouldn't even exist?) but the personal journals of each generation of the family highly suggests it. According to this, I should be the strongest one to ever exist in the family line seeing as my great-grandmother was a halfa as well.

After this came the story of where the hell my parents were now. I really didn't know how to react to the answer she gave me. They were dead. According to my Grandma, they had gone on a business trip roughly a year after I disappeared. There was a malfunction in the main engine of the private jet and they crashed into the wilderness, with nothing left to be found except for scattered body parts and a few puddles of blood. She said I should consider myself lucky I wasn't there to see the sight, it was apparently worse than the aftermath of the Fenton Portal explosion. I forced myself to fight back tears as she told me this story, the stronger I appeared the more details she was likely to give me. Still, it was hard not to cry; I may not have been on the best terms with my parents, but I still cared about them even if I mainly showed it by outright defying their expectations. In a way, by not conforming to what they expected of a good little girl, I did show I was listening. It's rather hard to become the exact opposite of what someone wants you to be without paying attention to what they wish for.

This then lead to something my Grandmother hadn't known until after my parents were gone. The retrieval teams found something in my father's blood: ectoplasm. Now, this is semi-normal for the family, but there is one tiny little detail. There would not, could not, have been ectoplasm running through my father's veins had he not been a halfa himself. And with that, my status of the current family hybrid went from something simply unprecedented, but still fully acceptable, to something that should have been downright impossible, but it wasn't. I was here, a single generation after the previous Manson halfa. Look at that, even my genes are hell bent on staying outside of my family's expectations.

But why hadn't my father used his powers? Was it for the same reason I felt I had to restrain mine?

* * *

Daniel really need to stop resisting me, he doesn't seem to realize I have access to several of his worst nightmares and enemies all at the palm of my hand.

I have the key to Pariah Dark's sarcophagus in my pocket at each and every given moment. I am simply waiting for the contract between myself and the Fright Night to be complete in order to more successfully control the dark king this time around. Daniel may have defeated the Pariah and his army once, but I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't from dumb luck. Besides, he won't have any 'borrowed' equipment increasing his power this time around. I fully intend on having him face the king once more using only his own power.

Then there's Dan's thermos sitting on a counter in my lab. Clockwork never saw it coming, quite odd considering he's the Master of All Time. You'd think he'd be able to see something as predictable as a stolen time staff. He really is rather powerless without it, thus rendering him helpless to keep me from taking Dan's thermos out of his precious lair. I'll be letting him out as soon as I need to, I'm sure that with the help of my final weapon I can get him under my control as well.

That only leaves the second of the Reality Gauntlets. What? Did Daniel really think there would be only one? Why limit yourself to the power of only one hand when you can have power from both? Sure, both gauntlets bend reality in the same way, but it was still good to be able to send your intention in multiple directions. Both the gauntlet its self and each of the Reality Gems are tucked away in secret, ghost proof, compartments in my limo.

Yes, Daniel has managed to combat and defeat each and every one of these threats when it stands alone, but how will he survive against all three at once when he barely won the first time? Simple, he won't. Not unless he decides to come to his senses and join me.

With that hero complex, and no real, sufficient help you better start counting your days, Daniel. It's only a matter of time before I have you in my clutches, whether it be in death or as an apprentice.

* * *

_I'll be honest with you, I didn't have a clue what Vlad was going to do until I wrote this up. XD :P_

_On a side note, I will most likely be unable to update at any point tomorrow, if I do it will be way earlier than usual. I will definitly not be updating at all on Friday, and odds are there will be no update on Saturday either._

_I can already feel the characters rebelling for being forced to sit still for so damn long. :P_

_Feed back and comments are welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	23. In Case of Frootloops

_Muhahaha! I have returned! :D_

* * *

**_Chapter 23: In Case of Frootloops..._**

* * *

As I sat there listening to Sam and her Grandmother recap what they had been talking about before Ember showed up, all I got out of it were two things.

1) Sam was definitely not someone you want to royally piss off when she's in her ghost form. Just hearing her family's past is enough to scare anyone looking to cross her path. And that's not even touching the fact that there is the shortest gap ever between her and the last family hybrid.

2) How ironic it was that she had been forced away from her ghost half by her parents only to end up best friends with me and my ghost obsessed parents. Ah, you just gotta love it.

It didn't really bother me that her Grandma knew my secret, mainly because she is probably the one adult that both approved of me and paid enough attention to me to figure it out regardless of whether Sam was there or not. I mean, seriously. There is no difference in facial structure between my human and ghost forms. Though I had to admit, even my own parents wouldn't have noticed it if they were still around.

I got sidetracked halfway through their story, lost in thoughts of what could have been if that damned portal hadn't exploded two years ago. I desperately wanted them to be here with me, watching what I did and seeing how I made the best of that accident. But even as I thought this, I knew in the back of my mind that if this were some alternate universe where the portal was still intact and my parents were still alive, I still wouldn't actually tell them the truth. They were ghost hunters, and even though they had nothing to show for it before the explosion, they would have had more than enough when they got that portal to work.

What hurt most of all was what Tucker found a few weeks later after looking through the design plans and the remnants of the destroyed portal. Tucker guessed that had we gone into the lab about a month later, my parents would have found the bug that was keeping it from operating. I still would have had to hit that button to turn it on and I would still be half ghost, but my family would still be with me. Damn it, I wouldn't be alone. I'd still have my parents blathering on about ghosts and all their theoretical weaponry. I'd still have Jazz trying to analyze my mind and being the overprotective older sister. Even though it would take me saving the world without the help of a reality bending gauntlet or a time controlling ghost to actually trust my parents with my secret and be constantly living in fear that they'd find out and dissect me, at least I would still have them.

Only the pain of knowing for sure what could have been kept me from asking Clockwork to show me that timeline, it was sure to exist somewhere. More than that, if I did see that timeline, whether I was constantly hunted or not in it, I'd probably lose it and try to incorporate myself into that time stream. I couldn't risk my own mental health to see something that could have been but never will be.

"Danny? Hello? Anyone in there?" Sam was waving a hand in front of my face, jerking me from my thoughts. "Earth to Danny, come in Danny."

I looked up at her. "What, Sam?" At least time had returned to me one thing I had thought lost and gone forever. I had Sam back. She wasn't my family, but she was the next best thing, and with any luck, she would become family in the next five years or so. Wouldn't that be something? Finally having the girl of my dreams by my side for life with a few of our own halfling children running around.

"Have you heard a single word I've said?" Uh… Okay, time to break out the little trick I'd seen Sam use. (Not that she'd ever know I'd seen her use it) Half-truth time!

"Yeah, of course I've been listening." Well…I did listen to the first half of her story, it was the second half or so that I'd zoned out on.

"And by that you mean you heard the first half of what I was saying and totally zoned out on the second half." Shit. I forgot she had a habit of knowing these things.

"And what would give you that idea?" Cue extremely fake and cheesy smile.

"Oh, I don't know. It could be the fact that I literally said something about sleeping with you and you didn't respond." Holy fuck, she actually did that? And I missed it?!

"You did?"

"Case and point. You only heard half of what I said, didn't you?" She already knew the answer, why did she have to make me flat out admit to it? Oh, right. Because she's Sam, that's why.

I sighed, it was best to just get it over with before she started embarrassing me. I was sure she remembered more than enough of her blackmail by now to make my life a living hell if I didn't admit to it. "Fine. Guilty as charged."

"That's what I thought." She turned and went back to talking with her grandmother. I swear I heard something about being clueless. Why the hell did everyone say that?

I caught myself staring at her and decided it was best to get out of there before I did something stupid or my body let the whole damn world know what was running through my mind.

"Hey Sam, I'm gonna head home if that's alright with you." I didn't need to say anything before I left, but I figured it was best to give her a chance to finish ratting me out if she wanted to before I just left. It was bound to be worse if I ran off before giving her a chance to finish.

"Okay. Bye then." She turned and went back to her previous conversation. I was about to fly through the walls and back home when I heard her address me again.

"One thing. Next time, don't you dare try to give me a few half-truths to get away with something. I will know." So she wasn't quite done yelling at me about that after all.

I flew back to our apartment without incident only to find that Vlad had parked his ass on my couch.

"So, what fucked up reason do you have for being here this time, frootloop?" It's time to play, "Let's Piss Off Vlad!"

"Language, Little Badger."

"I'm not a damned badger, Vlad, and since when do I give a shit what you have to say about anything much less my language." Originally, I'd just cursed cause I felt like it, now I was doing it just because it seemed to be pissing Vlad off. There is nothing more fun than messing with the frootloop.

"Oh, I think you will soon, Daniel. I was just dropping by to give you one last chance to join me." Wow, did he honestly think that was going to work? I knew he was crazy, I just didn't realize he was that crazy.

"If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I will never join you, frootloop."

"You might want to reconsider. You do remember all you greatest threats, right?" Of course I did. There was Pariah, Dan, and the Reality Gauntlet, but they were all taken care of months ago. What the hell was he trying to get at?

"What are you trying to get at, Vlad?" You know, I probably could have gotten at least one insult or curse in there if I had tried. Oh well.

"You have problems enough facing them once, how would you like to face them again?" Uh, I wouldn't.

"I already know how to beat them, idiot. It's wouldn't be that hard. Besides, I destroyed the Reality Gauntlet, Dan's stuck in some thermos in Clockwork's tower, and Pariah's locked up."

"Oh, I'm sure you could defeat them all again one at time, but could you fight them all at once?" What was this cheesehead getting at?

"Let me answer that for you, Daniel. No, you couldn't. I doubt even a Manson could pull that off." Whoa, wait. Back up. This asshole knew?

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Exactly what you think I mean, Little Badger." With that, he left. He just vanished, his work apparently done. I didn't waste a second turning on my ghost shield. Sure, Sam had a stronger one, but it only covered her room. Mine, however, covered the whole apartment. I was sure as hell not letting that frootloop get back in here anytime soon.

* * *

I talked to my grandmother for hours, not even bothering to pay attention to time. I paid for this though, as when I finally looked at a clock it was well past eleven and well past curfew. I was going to have to fly if I wanted to avoid detention. The flight back was short and uneventful with only a few hurried footsteps as some other students tried to get back without running into Lancer. It was when I managed to get home that I ran into trouble.

I tried to phase through the door, only to find myself shocked and thrown back several feet when I touched it. Shit, Danny must have a ghost shield on. I turned back to my human form, searching my pockets desperately for the house key I should have. A minute later, I realized it was inside sitting on the counter. I began to pound on the door, hoping Danny would get his ass up and answer it before Lancer found me.

Sadly, luck was not on my side.

"Mason! Why are you out past curfew?!" Damn it Danny! Would it have killed you to leave door unlocked if you putting the ghost shield up?

I didn't bother to answer the teacher, I just stood there waiting for my punishment.

"I'll be seeing you in detention tomorrow afternoon." Oh, great. Because that's exactly how I wanted to spend my Friday afternoon. He turned and walked off after handing me my detention slip, and I resumed banging on the door. I was much louder now as Lancer had already caught me out.

The door swung open to reveal Danny. "The next time you put that damned shield up, you had better either make sure I have my key or leave the damn door unlocked. Got it?" He nodded his head, hopefully that meant it wouldn't happen again.

* * *

_My flash drive has run off on me! D: Why Flash Drive? Why?! :P_

_Question? Comments? Concerns? I'd love to hear them as always!_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	24. Weakness

_Fluff alert! :D_

* * *

**_Chapter 24: Weakness_**

* * *

As I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, roughly an hour after deciding to call it a night and worry about the asshole of a frootloop later, I heard something start pounding on the door to the apartment. Whoever it was was being relentless in their attack on the poor door, I didn't have a clue who it could be. I knew Sam wouldn't be able to phase into the apartment like usual, but she did have a damn near perfect record as far as keeping her key with her. I highly doubted she'd manage to forget it the one time I actually used the ghost shield, with as often as she gets on my ass for not having my key, there is no way she'd simply not have hers.

The banging continued for several minutes, then it stopped suddenly. Two minutes late, it returned with a vengeance. That probably could only mean thing. Sam was locked outside, and she was going to kill me for not answering the door thus trapping her outside long enough to get a detention. Shit. I opened to door to the sight of a very pissed off Sam Manson. I was so going to get it later.

"The next time you put that damned shield up, you had better either make sure I have my key or leave the damn door unlocked. Got it?" The only good thing that could come out of this was the fact that she wasn't in her ghost form, and therefore had slightly less power at her immediate disposal with which to punish me for my stupidity. It's amazing how you could feel like it was all her fault one minute, then decide it's yours the next once she's done yelling at you.

She ran past me, clearly still pissed off about this whole thing. I honestly didn't know why she was so mad, it was an honest mistake. Yes, she got detention, but compared to the number of detentions I got for skipping class, one was nothing.

I decided I ought to go make sure there wasn't anything else wrong with her and headed towards her room. It was only then that I realized how close our two bedrooms were and how damn lucky I was Tucker hadn't made any jokes about how easy it would be for me to 'get some'.

"Sam, you okay? It's not like I purposely locked you out." I was two years out of practice with dealing with a seriously pissed off Sam, I hoped I could still pull it off.

"I'm fine, Danny. Just leave me alone." What the hell was wrong with her? Did I detect a hint of sadness in her voice? Whatever this was, it wasn't just about a locked door.

"Come on, Sam. I know you better than that, what's wrong?"

* * *

"I don't want to talk about it." Yes, I was pissed off about being locked out of my own damn apartment, mainly thanks to a ghost shield I didn't even know Danny had, but that wasn't on my mind now. That wasn't the main thing behind my current mood, that anger just set me over the edge.

I felt the tears in my eyes and pushed them back. I was not going to show weakness, as much as I wanted to at the moment. I was a damn strong, and emotionally stable girl, but I had just found out my parents were dead. Sure, I had learned that a few hours ago, but I had managed to hold myself together until I got home. I may not have openly shown it, but I really did love those royal pains in the ass known as my parents. I was breaking down, and I was fighting with myself as to whether or not I was willing to let Danny see it. I loved him, but that didn't mean I wanted to show my weakness. Over the past two years, and the rest of the life I was slowly recovering, I had learned the hard way that some people can and will take the simplest things and turn it against you. Never show weakness, there's someone out there waiting to turn it against you.

Danny sat the bed beside me. "You're not getting away with that one, Sam. What's wrong." I looked into his worried eyes and my resolve broke. The tears finally broke free of my eyes and slid down my face. Danny didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I instinctively leaned into him, burying my head in his chest as the tears flowed freely. In the back of my mind, through all the sadness that was beating at my carefully constructed walls, I realized just how right it felt to have Danny this close, for him to hold me in my time of need.

The tears finally slowed, and I found the voice to talk. After an episode like that, I highly doubted he'd let me off without telling him the truth now. "My parents are dead." I looked up into his eyes and saw understanding in his eyes. He knew exactly how it felt to know the two people who had raised you were suddenly gone from existence.

"You'll get through this, Sam." He knew that I had already seen the mutual pain in his eyes and that nothing else was needed.

I sat there staring at him for what felt like the longest time before I acted on impulse. I don't know where the idea came from, but it just had to happen. I leaned forward and kissed him, hoping this wouldn't turn out to be a bad idea. I knew he wouldn't complain, the present was not what I was worried about. It was the future that had me worried, I wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces if this ended badly a few years from now. He was my best friend, not someone I was all too willing to lose.

A deep blush coated his face as we parted, and I had a feeling I was sporting a blush of my own.

He took a deep breath, gathering courage, before he spoke again.

"Sam, I love you."

* * *

_Awww! :)_

_On a side note..._

_This is the last week that I will be updating every day, and seeing as how I highly doubt this story is going to be finished before the week ends, the update schedule is going to change. Sadly, between school and everything else, it's looking like we're going ot go from a daily update to two a week. D:_

_Starting next week, updates are going to be on Tuesdays and Fridays. If I have more time than I think I do, I'll change it to get more updates in there._

_Comments and feedback are welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	25. Trapped

_My flash drive is still M.I.A. NOOOOO! D:_

* * *

**_Chapter 25: Trapped_**

* * *

My mind would not stop racing as I was finally given a chance to rest that night. All I could do was replay the earlier scene with Danny over and over, watching each little detail as it played out in my head committing it so far into memory that I would never forget it. When he had finally said the words I'd been waiting years for, I didn't know how to react. In the end, sarcasm won out as the last defense it always was.

_"You really are clueless if I have to tell you how I feel. You know I love you, too, Danny."_

Yeah, probably not the most romantic thing I could possibly say, but it got the point across and earned a genuine smile and laugh from Danny. That moment in time was perfect, it was the stuff dreams are made of. The only thing there was not to like about it was his ghost sense cutting things short on me. The sudden interruption kept us from making anything official. Sure, we'd have to both be clueless idiots to possibly thing we weren't going to change the course of our friendship after that, but it would still be nice to make our pending relationship official.

3 A.M. Damn, time moves fast when you're happily revisiting the best moment of your life over and over. Danny should have been back by now, but I wasn't going to bother him right now even if he was. The ghosts had really been taking a toll on him lately and I know he was about to crash right before I broke down. If he was finally managing to get some much needed sleep, I wasn't going to take it from him for such a selfish reason. I could always bug him about that in the morning.

I fell asleep shortly thereafter and upon reawakening, regretting falling asleep in the first place.

My mind was working before I was fully conscious, past experience told me that every second was crucial. The first thing I noticed was that I sure as hell wasn't in my room anymore, the second being that my hands were chained above my head and I couldn't phase out of it. Sure, I could turn my hands intangible, but the intangibility act wasn't getting me through these cuffs. My eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light and I let my ghostly energy boost my sight to get a better look around at the dark room. I wasn't alone in here, but I couldn't quite make out the face of the other prisoner. Basic common sense was able to inform me that it was most likely Danny considering whoever had taken us obviously knew about my ghost half and more than like knew about his too.

New train of thought, who the hell could have possibly taken us? There weren't many people in the world that knew about my secret, and even fewer that knew Danny's. When you overlap the two lists of people (at least those that I knew about) you didn't get a very long list. Most of mine consisted of the GIW, but none of them knew about Danny, so they were all out. The only people I could think of were Tucker, my grandmother, and Mrs. Stuth. None of those people would betray us though. Tucker was our best friend and Grandma was family. Hell, even Mrs. Stuth had gotten completely cut off from the GIW just to keep Danny's secret safe.

Back to square one. Perhaps someone was only targeting one of us, but they took the other as a backup plan? That led me straight to the answer. Sure, we both had several slightly crazy enemies that were bright enough to take us as humans and lock us in ghost proofed restraints, but only one was crazy enough to take us both at the same time. I didn't have a clue as to how he knew about my ghost half, but it had been clear from the moment I'd met the damned frootloop that he knew about Danny.

Across the room, I hear Danny wake up and struggle against the restraints for a few minutes before he sighed and muttered something about a seriously crazed up frootloop. He had come to the same conclusion I had, the only question now was what the hell we were going to do with that tidbit of information. Really, all I knew about Vlad was how to piss him off, there wasn't a single real weakness about him locked away in my head. Unless Danny had something up his sleeve, we were screwed.

I opened my mouth to speak, but words would not come out. I could breathe normally and even make my mouth move, but I couldn't make sound come out. What the hell had the cheesehead hit us with? I decided that I had more pressing matters to worry about than my sudden inability to actually speak. I had to find a way to communicate to Danny, there was no way in hell we were going to make it out of here if I didn't. I desperately searched back through the early childhood memories that had been returned to me just hours before in search of something that would help me. If there was a power that would let me speak without my voice, there was no doubt in my mind that my five-year-old self had found it, I just needed to remember it.

_"Mommy! Look what I can do!" The voice of my younger self rang out in the empty hall. Within seconds I was flying through to air and landing with perfect balance on the stair railing._

Not what I was looking for, but at least I knew I could finally get back to those long lost memories.

_It was pitch black, I couldn't stand it. My lone candle of a nightlight had gone out minutes ago, though it seemed like hours to my three year old self. I wanted light, that way I could see and the monsters in the dark wouldn't be able to sneak up on me. My hand starts to glow, lighting the room up with a green light much to my surprise. I'm scared for a few seconds before I look down and see that I have created the light myself._

Again, good to know, but not what I needed. I knew there had to be something hiding in the depths of my mind, but what was it?

_I was grounded and it wasn't fair! I hadn't meant to take over Mommy's body, it just happened when I tried to walk through her. I was confined to my room, and worst of all, there was a belt on me that kept me from spending my time floating around the room. This wasn't fair!_

That's a little closer to what I needed, but I knew it wasn't the best I had to offer. At least I was getting closer to something useful.

_"Leave me alone!" The squeaky voice of my fifth year of life screamed out as I was roughly grabbed. Several bad guys were running through the house. My parents had soundproofed their walls long ago for unknown reasons, I knew they wouldn't be able to hear my shrieks and Grandma was out for the night. I was alone to deal with this. I knew how to use my powers, but I had been told not to use them unless it became a life or death situation. There was no gun yet, so I didn't have a reason to use them quite yet. I did need help though, I didn't know what these people were going to do to me. I felt something tug at my mind, almost like a doorway was trying to open up. I let it open and screamed out for help in my head. My father's worried voice replied and both parents were downstairs before I had fully figured out what I had done._

See, now that's the memory I was looking for. Now I just had to figure out how to get it to happen again, this time directed at Danny. I had reached for it on instinct the first time, but now I had to do it on command. I searched for the door that had been closed for so many years and left untouched and tugged it open when I found it.

My mind was instantly overwhelmed with Danny's frustrated thoughts before I managed to get a handle on it. I wanted to talk to Danny, no invade the person space of his mind.

**Danny? Can you hear me?** I saw his head jerk up in surprise, yup he heard me alright. Perhaps I could get us out of here after all.

* * *

_I figure most (if not all) of you can figure this out for yourself, but I figure I might as well be formal about adding it in. Things in bold face will generally be a thought going from Sam to Danny or from Danny to Sam as they figure out how to work the new connection. :)_

_Now...back to hunting down that blasted flash drive..._

_You see that little box at the bottom of the page? Yes, that. Now click it and type something for me. :P :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	26. Escape

_Yay! Long chapter! :D (Well...the longest thus far...)_

* * *

**_Chapter 26: Escape_**

* * *

**Sam? Is that you? **Well, duh. No shit, Sherlock. Seriously, was this boy that clueless? Wait…don't answer that.

**Yes, bright one. Who else did you expect? Santa Clause?**

**I was thinking of Vlad actually. **I'm not sure if he meant to broadcast that to me or not.

**Spill, Danny.**

**Spill what? **I could almost see the sheepish grin he was sure to have on his face. Even in his own mind he sucks at playing innocent.

**Oh, I don't know. Maybe, and this is just a guess, maybe you should tell me why the hell you were expecting Vlad?**

He was silent for a minute. **Uhh…Well, funny story about that actually. **In the language of Danny, that generally means he did something really stupid to get us stuck in this pile of shit

**Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to beat it out of you later?**

**Let's please refrain from hitting me. I may have made a really stupid mistake…**

**Yes, please, do go on.**

**Your sarcasm is not appreciated right now. **A mocking glare was probably gracing his features right now. I wish I could actually see his face and those brilliant eyes.

No! Focus Sam! Focus!

**You wouldn't have to hear it if you would stop stalling and just spill already.**

**Alright, alright! I get it! That retard of a Box Ghost may have possibly managed to distract me long enough for Vlad to overpower me.**

**Really, Danny? Really? You let Vlad beat you because of the ****_Box Ghost_****?**

**Hey! I didn't do it on purpose!**

**Well, I would certainly hope not. I thought you had more of a brain than to let yourself be so easily distracted on purpose.**

**Not helping Sam!**

**Hey, you set yourself up for that one.**

**Oh, shut up!**

**Okay. **I cut the connection, knowing on instinct he wouldn't be able to bring it back if he tried. It was an incredibly rare power, and while I could establish a link to anyone else, most other people wouldn't be able to establish a link to me unless I wanted it.

I felt something tugging at my mind, probably Danny trying to reestablish the link. He wasn't going to be able to until I had a plan. Though, I will admit that was more to piss him off than anything. He did tell me to shut up, and shut up I did.

Now, on to more pressing tasks. I felt around for my powers, and found all of the basic ones right beneath the surface and the more advanced ones hidden away a little further back than normal, but definitely still there. I needed to get out of here, while whatever the hell Vlad had given us to paralyze us was wearing off and before Vlad had the sense to get his ass down here. He had to know we'd be coming around soon. So I doubted we had more than ten minutes, twenty if something came up. Time for another trip down memory lane, hopefully it won't be nearly as long.

_It had started as a safety precaution, really, just a way of getting out of trouble if I fell out of a tree. Sure, I could have flown, but then there wouldn't be the fun of teleporting from falling towards a few broken bones to the safety of the tree. It was simply more fun, if I had to keep myself from getting hurt, I might as well do it the fun way._

_Then it became so much more, as I realized what the little trick could be used for. If I felt lonely, I could make a few more of me to play with. And If I felt a little mischievous, I could send several after mommy and daddy and watch them try to catch all the copies of me. Then there was the forbidden cookie jar in the kitchen. I'd been able to reach it for years, but mommy would always catch me before I could get out of there after eating one._

_I figured out how to do it one day, I was four and a half and very proud of myself. I left a duplicate in my room and I went as the original down to the cookie jar. As soon as the cookie was all gone, I'd send most of my mind to the patiently waiting duplicate before merging myself with it. I always reformed with whatever version of me had the most of my consciousness, it saved energy and made for a quick get away. Mommy never caught me sneaking treats from the cookie jar again after I figured that out._

Damn! I was a smart kid at four and a half! Those memories were so far away though, it almost felt as if I was looking in at a past life. In a way I was, I suppose, considering I hadn't even remembered any of it until yesterday.

I had a way out of these restraints now, and as long as Danny could duplicate himself, we were going to have a pretty good advantage once we found Vlad again.

**Hey, bright one.**

**Oh, so now you talk to me?**

**What? You told me to shut up, so I did.**

I could have sworn I heard a groan come from across the room. I really hoped I did, but even if we were regaining our speech, it was probably best to keep communications on a telepathic level were Vlad couldn't hear them. **Must you have a smart ass response to everything?**

**Actually, yes. You should know by now that's just how I work. **Another groan, clearly one of frustration. Time to get down to business. **Please tell me you know how to duplicate.**

**Barely, it's not easy though.**

**Seriously Danny? I had that figured out when I was four!**

**Hey! I wasn't born with these powers like you were!**

**I guess I'll let you have that point.**

**Thank you. Care to tell me why I might possibly need to duplicate right now?**

**It'll get us out of these chains.**

He was silent for a moment, probably trying to figure out just how the hell that would actually work. **It wouldn't help Sam. All we'd have is a half-strength duplicate running around leaving us with diminished powers as well.**

**You really never have paid attention to how the whole duplication thing works. Have you?**

**Never needed to. **Of course. Leave it to Danny to not do something just because he never needed to. I wonder how many fights and traps he could have avoided if he had.

**Okay, guess I get to play teacher now then. You know how when you're done with a duplicate, it generally just reforms and sends its energy into you?**

**Yeah, that's not exactly rocket science, Sam.**

**For you it might as well be most days.**

**Hey!**

**Back on task! It can go the other way too, Danny. You can send your energy to your duplicate if you try to.**

**Holy shit! You can actually do that?**

**No, Danny. I'm just making this up as I go. ** I layered the sarcasm on thick. He can be clueless enough sometimes, I really had to. **Of course you can, the flow of any energy if rarely one way.**

All I got after that statement was a huge image of a question mark forming in his mind. Now was not the time to be clueless, Danny! We're on a schedule here!

**Think of your transformations. You can choose to either go from Fenton to Phantom or from Phantom to Fenton. It's the same basic concept. **At least it was in his case. I seriously hoped that would dumb it down enough for him to understand the point I was trying to get across on the fly. I resigned to teach him more later if we got out of here alive.

**I think I get it.**

**Thank god! Light up an orb of energy so you can watch first, okay?**

**Fine. **He grumbled his response, even in his head. It wasn't my fault he was having to learn all of this now because he hadn't bothered to learn it before when he had two years to practice.

It was clear these restraints were designed to keep our powers below their normal levels as Danny's orb of light came up. I tried to create a perfect duplicate right off the bat, but the restraints on my wrists were making it hard to get my hands in there. I wound up cheating just a little by doing it the same way I did when I was a little kid just figuring it out. Instead of making the duplicate in one solid piece, I made it in several smaller pieces that I stitched together. This let me put more energy to the formation of my hands, enough to form them on my duplicate. This process took longer and was a little less accurate, but it was what I had to work with. Besides, any minor slip ups would fix themselves automatically as I literally pulled myself and my clone back together.

Now came the easier part, though it did require a little more concentration. I had been able to do it in mere seconds as a child, but my powers were so far out of practice it took me a few minutes to get the link I need with my clone to form. I felt the link open and I started to pour my energy towards the clone. I felt the balance of power tip just enough that when I released the energy I had put into making the clone, I wound up a few feet in front of where I had been chained before.

One down, one to go. I checked my internal clock, trying to guess how much time had elapsed. Ten minutes by my guess, better than I expected to do. Now I had a different problem though, walking Danny though the process if he got stuck.

**I seriously hope you're a fast learner when it comes to your powers, bud. We're so screwed if you can't figure this out.**

**I can't get the duplicate to form, Sam! It keeps coming out deformed. ** I hadn't even noticed that his light had gone out and he had been trying on his own for the past few minutes. Well, at least he had enough of a brain to try it on his own when he lost his focus on me.

**Form it in pieces. Start with your feet, then move on to your legs and so on. The pieces will stitch themselves together as you form them. Don't worry about any small imperfections, they'll correct themselves when you join your clone.**

I watched his clone slowly start to form in front of his glowing form.

**You know, this would have been nice to know when I first started trying to do this trick.**

**Let me guess, you wound up with several heads instead of an actual clone.**

**…maybe…**

I sighed, typical Danny. Five more minutes were gone. It was honestly a miracle that Vlad hadn't come down here yet, but I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to be here soon. I was screwed if Danny hadn't managed to free himself by then.

**How the hell do I do the next part, Sam?**

**Open up a mental link with your clone, Danny.**

**Sam, you know as well as I do that I don't have the nifty telepathic power you have!**

**True, but it is your clone. If not from you, them were else is it supposed to get it's instructions from? You've duplicated before, right?**

**Yeah, a few times.**

**Then you've also opened the link before, just not one nearly strong enough to transfer energy. Tell your clone to float in the air or something, then hang on to the connection that forms.**

**Got it, what now? **His response was distant indicating that he had indeed managed to connect with his clone.

**Focus on that connection, try to make it stronger until you can send your energy to it.**

I didn't hear a response for several minutes, good he had figured out how to do it. We were going to get out of here after all.

We were at a grand total of 22 minutes. Vlad had to be coming, that or he was waiting on us. I seriously hoped It was the former, the latter meant another trap.

"Hey! I did it!"

**Danny! Keep it down! Do you want Vlad down here any faster than he's already going to be?**

**….no…**

**Then keep your voice in your head!**

**Yes, Sam.**

**Thank you. Now follow me. ** I tried to fly through the wall like a complete idiot, there was no way it was going to be that easy, but considering there was no door, Vlad had to have a way to get down here.

I looked at the ceiling, using some ectoplasm to light the room. The ceiling tiles were colored slightly differently than the walls. That could mean one of two things. Either Vlad had tried for some interior design and made the ceiling a slightly different color than the rest of the room, or the top of the room didn't have whatever the walls did that kept us from going through them. Only one way to find out.

I flew through the roof, actually getting through it, with Danny behind me. I felt my power returning to its normal levels as I left our holding cell.

"Well, it would appear as if I under estimated you two. Don't worry, it won't happen again." Shit.

* * *

_...aaaannnnndddd...cliffhanger! MUHAHAHAHA!_

_Reviews and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	27. One Seriously Crazed Up Frootloop

_*Looks at summer reading then to the blank word document* Screw it, I'm gonna write! :D :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 27: One Seriously Crazed Up Frootloop_**

* * *

I turned to see none other than the infamous frootloop, Vlad Plasmius, staring down me and Danny like we're some sort of meal to him. His gaze was seriously creeping me out and I made a mental note to NEVER be left in the same room as him alone. I stood there and froze, while I had known this would probably happen, I still didn't have a clue what the hell to do now that it had. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Danny automatically assume a battle stance, he knew as well as I did things were about to get ugly beyond compare.

Something flashed in my mind, I needed to get out of this slim hallway and into a more open area. There simply was not enough room here to fight and actually have a chance. While it was two on one, the cramped space put the odds in Vlad's favor as he didn't have to worry about tripping over his teammate.

**Danny, follow me. We can't fight here.**

**Why not? It's as good a place as any.**

**Danny, look around you! We have no space to move.**

**Fine, but don't expect him to let us choose the arena without a fight.**

**I know, I'm not clueless unlike someone I know.**

**Hey!**

I made a run for it, taking off into the air within seconds. I kept a link open with Danny just so he would know where I was heading next. We flew through walls and ceilings until Vlad finally caught up with us. We had wound up in a dining room. It still wasn't as big as I would have liked, but it certainly beat the hallway we were in before.

He grabbed us by our tails, the sudden grasp causing us to bring our normal legs back into existence. He had an iron grip we couldn't phase through.

**Duplicate, now. Put yourself clear across the room.**

**We don't have time for that!**

**Then make time, Danny! He's not going to let us go. If you can form yourself in one solid stroke and hang on to the initial connection, you'll be able to do it in seconds. **At least, I hoped he'd be able to do it that fast. I knew it'd be faster now that he knew what the hell he was doing, but I didn't know if he'd be fast enough to do it before Vlad caught on. The odds were not in our favor.

**I seriously hope you know what you're talking about.**

I formed a clone and popped out of the cheesehead's hand. A look of confusion and understanding crossed his face, distracting him just long enough for Danny to pull it off as well. I was already pelting the idiot with ectoblasts when Danny finally came around beside me.

Vlad only stuck around for a few more seconds before he disappeared from sight. I didn't have a clue where he'd gone, but I knew that I really didn't want to stick around long enough to find out.

**Danny, let's go! **I didn't know where Vlad was, so I didn't want to risk speaking out loud. Our ability to communicate silently was one of the few things we had going for us, and I was going to take full advantage of that.

Note to self, when building a house, make sure it follows a logical floor plan. Danny and I had been floating around for what felt like hours and we still hadn't found a way out.

**Hey, Sam? Why don't we just fly straight up and leave through the roof? **Oh. Duh.

We took off towards the ceiling and went though three or four floors. Why Vlad had so much space, I will never know. He was a lonely single guy in his forties, the most he could possibly have as companionship was a cat. We cleared the roof at least, and made a run for it. There was just one problem; Vlad had put up a ghost shield.

The boundaries were a good quarter mile from the outside walls of his house, so neither of us saw it at first and by the time we did, we had run into it. Great, we couldn't fly through and considering Vlad was a halfa himself, odds are we wouldn't get through in our human forms either. I should have guessed, really. There was no way the frootloop was going to go through all the trouble of catching us only to make it easy to escape. Whatever the hell he wanted, it was clear we weren't going anywhere until he had it.

"Ah, there you are. Like the ghost shield Samantha, Daniel?"

"What the hell do you want, Vlad?" Danny was clearly beyond pissed. I could almost hear the ghostly wail starting to form in his throat.

"Temper, temper, Little Badger."

"Will you stop calling me that you frootloop?"

"Really, Daniel, I think you have some far more pressing issues at the moment. Or at least you will soon." It was then that I noticed two thermoses on Vlad's back, one with the imprint of a scary looking face in it and the other showing a few hairline cracks as the power within it was growing to be too much for the device to hold. We were most certainly about to enter a world of trouble.

"Oh no. Vlad, I know you're crazy, but I didn't think you were that crazy." Danny apparently already knew what was in those thermoses.

**Care to fill me in on what he has hidden behind his back.**

**Does "a deep pile of shit" count as an answer?**

**Not really.**

There was a sigh, though whether it was in his head or out loud I will never know. **Judging by just how crazy he's been before, I'm pretty sure he's got a pissed off king and an evil alternate future version of myself in there.**

**Oh. We are screwed.**

**Yeah, pretty much.**

I looked back to Vlad and saw something else had appeared by his side.

"Oh, fuck." Danny spoke aloud, I was about to ask him to fill me in again when Vlad spoke once more.

"Recognize it, Daniel?"

"There's no way! I destroyed it!" Danny's tone of voice told me we were in deeper than we could imagine.

"You destroyed ONE, Daniel. Let's be logical here, how often is a glove one part of a matching pair?" Danny's face turned panicked. Deep shit, here we come! "Just like any other glove, the Reality Gauntlet you destroyed had a sister which is clearly now in my control."

**Reality Gauntlet?**

**It allows the user to bend and twist reality.**

**So in other words, there's no bloody way we're getting out of this without one hell of a fight.**

**Pretty much.**

"As I'm sure you haven't guessed, with this I hold control over all reality, including your little friends in here." He shook the two thermoses. "I'll give you one last chance, and this goes for both of you. Join me, and your deaths needn't happen."

"You really are one seriously crazed up frootloop. That is never going to happen." Danny spoke the words in a tone of voice that told me he had said this numerous times before.

"Very well. Have it your way." He uncapped the thermoses and our stay in Hell began.

* * *

_...I just realized that this story won't have more than five or six more cahpters... Wow...the ending is sneaking up on me and I'm the one writing it!_

_Perhaps a sequel will be in place? You'll have to tell me what you all think! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	28. When it All Goes Down Hill

_I swear my sister is turning into Jazz. She came in earlier babbleing about how I shouldn't keep feeling bottled up. O_O_

* * *

**_Chapter 28: When it All Goes Down Hill_**

* * *

When the thermoses were first uncapped, their former prisoners immediately turned to Vlad, preparing for an attack. Vlad, had obviously thought of this even with as crazy as he was and used the reality gauntlet to turn their attentions to us, the two ghost kids who were almost certainly about to die.

**So…Danny…any ideas as to how the hell we're going to get out of this without becoming full ghosts ourselves?**

**Not really. We don't even have a thermos, not that it would help much without us going through hell to weaken them. **A flash of red came soaring in our direction, it was game time.

**How the hell do we beat them if we can't trap them? **I already knew the odds were next to impossible with Vlad still having control over all reality. He might not mess with our own abilities, but there was no way in hell he wouldn't boost the power of the King and Dan.

**Dodge the attacks and aim for the gauntlet, with any luck we might be able to get a blast past Vlad and destroy the damn thing.** My mind was already back on the fight, we couldn't afford to talk more the we absolutely had to, we needed every bit of concentration and power we could get. I already saw that we weren't going to be able to get a clear shot at the glove ourselves, but I did have another idea.

**Don't shoot. Get Vlad between us and them. **He didn't respond, all I got was a nod from him stating that he had understood what I meant for him to do. The King and Dan turned both their attentions to Danny, and I knew that was not going to end well. He could probably survive a blast from one, but not from both. I formed and icy fire in my hands (I know, that's quite the oxymoron). I couldn't remember how I'd first learned to make it or what exactly it would do, but at the moment. I really didn't care. I just needed to distract one of them, make them realize there was more than one other person in this fight. I couldn't let Danny take all the fire without at least trying to lighten his load.

The blast hit the King, and I realized what it would have do to any human. Within milliseconds of the initial impact it would have frozen the victim, only to burn them to a crisp seconds later only adding to the damage brought about by the sudden temperature changes. You have to take into account that this wasn't a human though; this was one of the most powerful ghosts in existence. It froze him for a few seconds before thawing him out. It still dealt a little damage, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I wasn't going to do that again, it took way too much energy and didn't deal nearly enough damage to be worth it. It did succeed in doing one thing though, it made the King temporarily forget Danny and turn his rage towards me.

**We're gonna have to find a way of vaporizing them, Sam. We won't make it out alive otherwise. **He was aware of just how much power that would take, right? Not to mention the fact that we still had Vlad floating in the background feeding them power with that damned smile on his face. A missed shot of mine nearly hit the gauntlet, only to have a shield from Danny's attempt at warding off an attack aimed at himself throw it off. He was in deep shit, I could see that from here, though he was no deeper in than I was.

The fight gradually settled down to the ground as Danny and I started to weaken, Vlad staying up high preferring to watch from above. We weren't going to make it, that was a fact I was already starting to accept. I wasn't going down without one hell of a fight, but I knew this probably wasn't going to have a happy ending. That would take a damned miracle and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that miracles really don't like me.

The fight went on. Up, down, left, jump, duck, shoot and hope for the best. We couldn't get a single good shot out at Vlad or his stupid gauntlet and if we didn't get rid of the damned thing soon we didn't stand a vapor of a chance.

An idea finally hit me. It was stupid and risky, but it might take that glove out of the equation.

**Danny, can you handle both of these guys for a minute or two?**

**I really don't know Sam. I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything. **The fact that he didn't even bother to question my plans showed his absolute trust in me. I needed to get this done fast, or he wasn't going to be only half ghost by the time I finished.

I started on a clone, trying to keep myself moving in such a way that it would look as though I was still engaged in the battle to Vlad, The Evil Overlord of the Frootloops. The clone stayed a few feet behind Vlad, concealing itself from his ghost sense with yet another trick I couldn't remember learning, it was all coming to me instinctually now. The floating form was finished and I move my body of consciousness from myself to the duplicate, claiming it as my new body. Vlad saw my disappearance, and I barely had a shot off before he had turned. Instincts had kicked in right before he turned, and I found my blast had been unconsciously angled to compensate for his sudden movement. I wasn't sure if it was my ghost instincts that had kicked in, or my gun training from my time with the GIW, but I really didn't have time to wonder or care. Vlad's damned gauntlet was gone, and that's all I really gave a flying fuck about at the moment.

It was inherently obvious just how much power he'd been feeding his two forced allies as I saw their attacks lose strength as the power of the now destroyed gauntlet wore off. Sadly, the two ghosts were still hell bent on wasting Danny and their combined power was still too much for him to handle on his own. I flew to his side, but I knew we were still had the short end of the stick as far as odds went.

**The gauntlet's gone, these two are fighting on their own power now. **Danny didn't have the strength left to answer me, he was starting to fade fast. He wasn't used to having this much power wasted on one battle.

I stood beside Danny, shooting off my own deadly blasts as the King and Dan advanced. Blast after blast, shield after shield, jump after jump, it was all starting to weigh down heavily on me, while the two ghosts in front of us still seemed as if they were just getting started. I was about to collapse, the realization that this was life or was the only thing keeping me on my feet and by the way Danny was starting to shake, he was no better off. These two knew what they were doing and how to win, we simply did not.

I sent out a mental cry for help to anyone or anything in the area, I didn't know what the hell I expected it to do, but I did it anyway. I was so close to passing out, neither of us had anything to lose by it.

* * *

_...I hate writing fight scenes..._

_Comments and feedback are just as welcome as always! Not that I don't say that almost every chapter. :P_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	29. Saving Grace

_So...I realized I didn't actually have any banter in the last chapter's fight scene...I hope this makes up for it. :)_

* * *

**_Chapter 29: Saving Grace_**

* * *

"You won't beat me this time, Danny-boy." I was going to lose it if that abomination said that one more time.

"I fight you every day and I'm not going to lose to you now."

"You _still_ don't get it do you? I'm inevitable."

"Yeah, and Vlad's perfectly sane." You just gotta love those moments where you can insult your two least favorite people at the same time.

"I still exist! You still turn into me!"

"I will never turn into you, asshole."

"Why? Because of your little promise? Please, Danny. You are still such a child."

"Oh, fuck off asshole." I finally let loose the ghostly wail that had been building in my throat. In retrospect, throwing out something that I knew was going to drain me as much as it did was not a good idea. Especially when the victim of said attack could easily counter act it by using their own wail without losing nearly as much of their energy.

After that, my power started fading as fast as Sam's was. There was no way in hell we were going to win. We'd both already used too much power before the Reality Gauntlet had been destroyed and now that it was we were too drained for it to make the extreme difference that it should have.

I was knocked to the ground for a second, just long enough to see that Sam was barely standing on her feet as it was. It was as close to set in stone as one could get, we were going to die without some extreme interference from an outside force.

I didn't know how much longer either one of us was going to last, but there was one thing I was hell bent on saying one last time before this battle came to an end.

**I love you, Sam.**

Her eyes turned solidly neon green before I turned away and back to my own fight. Not just the irises as normal, but also the pupils and whites of her eyes. She was glowing with power.

* * *

My mental cry for help was sent out just before I heard what I suspected Danny had meant to be his last words.

I nearly toppled over after a stupid mistake that got me hit with a well-aimed and powerful blast.

Key word: nearly.

I stepped back before I felt strong hands holding me up, keeping me from falling to what was sure to be my death. Then energy started to flow through my body, starting dimly only to get stronger and stronger. The King was distracted by a missed blast from Dan long enough for me to look over my shoulder to see who my helper was.

It wasn't just one person supplying the much needed strength, it was several; six or seven by my count. They were all in a line, each with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, creating a flow of energy into my body. The first two people I recognized right off the bat, one because I grew up with them and the other from various pictures around the house. My dad was right behind me, my great-grandmother behind that. I didn't know the rest but they all held something familiar. Just as I ripped my eyes away from the face of my deceased father, it hit me. This was the half-ghost Manson line coming to my aid in my time of greatest need.

As I felt the flow of energy, I also felt something else, a gentle push as to what I needed to do in order to beat the King. I built up one of the icy flames I had used at the beginning of the fight, only much stronger and with a different destination in mind for this one. I didn't send it spiraling towards his chest as I had before. Instead it went for the top of his head and hit both him and his crown. The crown fell to the ground, its flames extinguishing as the ice took over. When the fiery part of my blast kicked in it turned to dust and I saw the King's power diminish greatly. I had a chance.

An ectoblast hit him squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward before he had a chance to send off another attack in my direction. I changed my position in regard to the King to get a better shot at him when he rose to his feet and my line of halfa ancestors kept up with me, effortlessly mimicking every movement and continuously supplying the energy I need to keep going. This change in position gave me a clear view of Danny in my peripheral vision; I wasn't the only one who had a little help now.

I saw him go from a slumping form, about to collapse from exhaustion, to the strong, determined fighter I knew and loved. I didn't recognize ho was helping him, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it was his family. They didn't stand in a line the way my ancestors did, instead they opted to stand around him. His mother had a hand on one shoulder and his sister had a hand on his other shoulder. While they stood beside him, his father stood behind him, his hands covering those of his daughter and wife. By his reaction, I'd have to say that Danny didn't realize who was surrounding him with assistance yet.

I knocked the King down once more and felt with a surge of energy what needed to be done to end this. I started up another ectoblast, this one way stronger than anything I've ever used before. I felt the lethality of it as it built in my hands. One blast and the King would never be seen again. I didn't know where the hell he would go, but he sure as hell wasn't coming back here.

The blast hit the King's crippled form and I watched his final destruction, he disappeared molecule by molecule until there was nothing left but his ring. I grabbed it on instinct, the voices of my ancestors telling me it wasn't something I wanted Vlad to get ahold of even with the crown destroyed.

I felt most of my borrowed energy fade as the King vanished from existence. I went to help Danny, but my father's strong arms held me back. His voice came through to me, a voice I thought I'd never hear again.

"It's his fight Sam. He needs to be the one to finish it." I stopped trying to resist the pull and watched Danny fight his ultimate enemy.

* * *

_Questions? Comments? Concerns? I'd love to hear from you!_

_...And I swear one of these days I'll get around to answering more than one reveiw at a time before I get distracted again... :P_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	30. Familiar Faces

_Just on the off-chance that someone either forgot about or missed it, I have moved to my new update schedule of Tuesdays and Fridays. :)_

* * *

**_Chapter 30: Familiar Faces_**

* * *

The glow around Sam and in her eyes brightened as I was forced back to reality and back into my fight with Dan. I tried to keep fighting me, but my strength was quickly failing me. I had beaten this asshole before, but with the Reality Gauntlet boost he had gotten at the start of this battle, he had gained a significant advantage over me. I was strong, but not quite that strong, as much as I needed to be.

I sent a glare up to the frootloop in a single free second I'd managed to miraculously gain. That second was long enough to see his face go from amusement at our upcoming demise to concern, as if he saw the tides of battle turning. I knew for a fact he wasn't worried about my fight, Dan was already beating me back by the time I registered the change in his facial expression. I purposely changed the positions of my battle with Dan, moving us to where I could get a good look at Sam to see what had the damned frootloop so worried.

There was Sam, but the energy I'd seen collecting around her earlier had changed. It was no longer just an extremely bright aura (where she even got the power to create that mid-battle, I will never know), now there were figures standing in a line behind her. Each had their hands on the set of shoulders in front of them and even from a distance and with Dan blocking my view every few seconds, I could see a steady flow of energy moving from one to the next, all of it flowing directly into Sam.

The little attention I was giving the sight of Sam was cut off when I found myself suddenly strengthening a few moments after seeing her. I felt hands on my shoulders, but I knew there was too much at risk for me to risk turning long enough to look at who was helping me. If it was who I felt in my heart it was, I wouldn't be able to look away once I saw them.

Dan's eyes wandered to look behind me, and his eyes widened with shock confirming what I already knew. Mom, dad, and Jazz were behind me, lending me much needed energy in my time of need. Even though his humanity was gone, Dan still froze for a few valuable seconds when he saw them, the look in his eyes betraying to emotions he swore to god he didn't have. Even Dan couldn't look at his family for the first time in over a decade and not freeze up for a moment. That lapse in concentration was all I needed to finally cause him some real damage. I fired up a blast, trying to use as little borrowed energy as possible while still making damn sure it would pack one hell of a punch. The energy left my hands and made a beeline towards Dan who didn't see it coming until it was too late.

I risked a glance over at Sam while he was down and I was prepping my next attack. Most of her figures were gone now, leaving only two. One was holding her back when she so clearly wanted to run to my side, that was her father. I briefly heard something along the lines of "that's his fight," before my attention was stolen away from him. There was also another figure standing a few feet back, watching the whole scene play out. I had a feeling that was Sam's mother, waiting for the right time to make her presence known.

The look on Sam's face told me she wanted nothing more than to come help me as Dan got back up only to be shot again, but she was being held back. It clicked in my head why, Clockwork wasn't going to let her interfere, and her father was probably one of the few people that could keep her out of the way. Old Clocky was sending me a silent message he knew only I would actually understand. I had to beat Dan on my own, without Sam's help. If I couldn't beat him running off my own abilities and the energy being lent to me by my family, no one was ever going to put the asshole in his place. Jeremy Manson was right, this was my fight, and I'll be damned if I let Dan win.

I called another ecotblast to my fist, ready to fire when I got a clear shot. "You don't really think you can beat me, do you Danny?" Even as he said that, I could see the small, neatly hidden signs that he was weakening. "You really are naïve if you think that. Even Clockwork couldn't stop me from getting out. You can't win." I felt my confidence waver for a split second before common sense kicked in for me. Dan was playing mind games, trying to make me screw up badly enough to win this.

"Yes, and you're just plain stupid if you think I'm ever going to let you win." Probably not the best remark I could have found, but it worked.

"I know something you don't, Danny-boy. There are more than one way to cause you to change. Let's take you're little friend over there for example." He turned his head to Sam, my eyes following his. "If I sent one little blast in her direction, her half-life would be over for good this time. Your mind would crumble, and I would be born anew." He turned his attention back to me before he spoke again. "I'm inevitable." As he said that, I saw the figures from earlier reappear around Sam in a protective ring, it was clear they weren't letting her go anywhere.

"I'm nothing like you Dan. You are everything I fight against every damned day, and I have had it with you trying to fuck my screwed up life up even more!" I felt a rush of power join the energy already at my fingertips, the expression on Dan's face was priceless. He hadn't expected me to find the inner strength to fight back. He had actually thought I wouldn't take him down in his moment of weakness.

I only got to see the look on his face for a moment though before he disappeared completely in a blast of frighteningly bright green light. I knew what had finally happened even before the light cleared. Dan was gone.

Sam was at my side seconds later, and when she got there, I turned to face her and my family.

"I'll never turn into that, I promise." The world around me disappeared as I fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

_You'll see me again Friday!_

_*grumbles to self* stupid phone won't let me write during lunch..._

_I know I asked this in an earlier chapter, but I'm going to ask this again. Would you guys like to see a sequel? I have an idea of where it could go from here..._

_Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	31. The Frootloop's Final Stand

_I think this is either the second to last or third to last chapter...we'll just have to see how the characters decide to act next chapter... :P_

* * *

**_Chapter 31: The Frootloop's Final Stand_**

* * *

Danny collapsed almost as soon as Dan was gone. He made a promise to me that he would never turn into that and then he was gone to the world for the time being. I reached out to him with my mind just to make sure he was still in there even if he couldn't physically respond. I felt his mind regain a little of its life as his mind sensed my own, he was going to be just fine once he recovered enough energy to wake up.

I felt the need to respond to his promise. **I know you won't Danny. **He didn't respond, but I felt a sense of peace come over the inner workings of his mind. I smiled briefly before I remembered there was still one more ghost on the battle ground. Technically, he was only half-ghost, but he may as well be all ghost with as many vile things as he's done.

"'Ello, Frootloop." Don't ask why I did it, it just had to be done. Danny was right, it was fun to piss off the mildly (correction, EXTREMELY) insane asshole. The look on his face told me he was more than ready for one final battle and I felt the rush of energy return. I didn't need to look behind me to know who was there.

"You haven't won yet, child."

"Key word: Yet."

"Oh, please. After as much power as you've already spent, you can't defeat me. Even if you had Daniel by your side you wouldn't have the strength to finish this." A thought suddenly hit me. For whatever reason, Vlad couldn't see the ghostly help I was getting. If he could, then not even the arrogant bastard that he was would let him be this confident. "It's a shame really, you both have such promise, but I can't exactly have that running around trying to foil me, now can I" If it was possible, his eyes got an even more malicious glint added to them. He was out for our blood.

I felt Danny start to stir and looked over long enough to see his family aiding him once again, giving him the energy he needed to get up and fighting again.

When he finally came fully to his senses, the glare on his face would have scared anything but death himself. Sadly, it would appear as if Vlad was death himself as he didn't bat an eye at the distinct hatred residing in Danny's eyes. If it had been anyone one else about to be on the receiving end of a very powerful, very pissed off Danny, I might have felt sorry for him, but this asshole? No way in hell. I wouldn't let Danny kill him as I did have a few plans for revenge forming in my head, but I'd let Danny come pretty damn close before I stepped in.

They both took to the air, and I watched their battle rage on. I heard snipets of them going back and forth with insults and smart ass remarks.

"Frootloop!"

"Temper, temper, Little Bagder."

"I am NOT a goddamned badger, you lonely old man!" Note to self, do not call Danny a badger.

"Look on the bright side, at least I'm crediting you with more intelligence than your idiotic father ever had." Danny blew a gasket at this one, his eyes turning a pure neon green, not a speck of white or black to be found within them. I knew my turn to act was coming up quick.

**Don't kill him Danny.**

**Why the hell shouldn't I kill this goddamned bastard?**

**I think I have something that will make him suffer far more than death.**

**And just what the hell is that?**

I felt a mischievous gleam enter my eyes. **What would he do if he were suddenly powerless?**

Even from this distance, I could see the faint smile that crossed Danny's face in mid battle. **Alright, but if he causes us anymore trouble, I will do his ass in once and for all.**

Danny's fight with Vlad continued. I would have jumped in to help, but I was usy preparing for my own plan. What I was going to do would probably increase my overall power in the long run, but it would take one whole hell of a lot out of me even between the strength I'd regained naturally and the help my family was still providing. Danny finally gained the upper hand for just a split second, but it was long enough for him to send Vlad hurtling to the ground. I stepped in as he made impact.

I let my ghostly energy form bonds around his hands and feet to bind him to the ground, keeping him from getting out of this. I opened his mind to mine and ignored his thoughts in order to find what I was looking for. I found the part of his mind that had been adapted to maintain and control his ghost powers and targeted it with my mind. My mind was met with an image of the full array of connections between his mind and his ghost DNA. I saw every strand of ghostly power in his body. I made my energy flow from his bonds and into his body, covering and absorbing all the spectral energy in Vlad's body. As his power rushed into me, my energy started to leave me once and for all in a way that couldn't be restored by simply borrowing energy, I needed real rest, but I needed to finish this first.

I was distantly aware of Vlad's screams and the flash of light that changed him from a ghost to a human for the final time. He was powerless, and he knew it. I opened my eyes and returned my full mind to reality to see Danny standing over us, watching, waiting.

"He's powerless, Danny." My world started to blink in and out of existence, I was about to pass out, but I needed to make sure that Danny could take care of Vlad and get us to safety before I let myself fall into the darkness.

I started to sway, my complete exhaustion overwhelming my own willpower. I felt Danny's strong arms around me as I finally succumbed to the blackness that was enveloping my mind. I hoped Danny could handle this, I wouldn't have been able to keep myself standing up no matter what anyone had done.

* * *

_Questions? Comments? Concerns? Random little loose ends I really need to address? Please, feel free to tell me! :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


	32. Happy Ever After

_Right...so, this is the last chapter of Impossibilities, but I do plan on writing a sequel! :) The title on that one is leaning towards being Pathways, just for the record. :)_

* * *

**_Chapter 32: Happy Ever After_**

* * *

My eyes opened sometime later and it took me several minutes to realize I had somehow gotten to my bed. It took me several more to recognize Danny and Tucker asleep in the corner of the room. My head hurt like hell, and I found that if I moved too fast my whole world would start to spin. Damn, that fight had taken more out of me than I thought. Now that I thought about it, it was a bloody miracle that Danny was only asleep rather than passed out the way I was.

I groaned, thinking hurt. My expression of pain must have hit Danny's ears as he suddenly awoke, a defensive look crossing his face before he visibly relaxed upon seeing me awake. Tucker woke up soon after when Danny moved to my side.

"How you doing?" Danny was concerned, slightly relaxed to see me awake, but definitely still concerned. I didn't blame him, just from looking at the clock I could tell you I'd been out for at least a full day, probably longer.

"My head hurts to high hell and my stomach is currently demanding it be fed; past that I'm doing pretty well." My attempts at humor actually calmed the ghost-boy down a bit, it wasn't much, but I was willing to take what I could get at the moment. Yes, I probably should have been concerned over my own well-being and all that various crap, but I could hardly focus on that with the pitiful, worried look Danny held in his eyes.

Danny cracked a small smile before Tucker spoke. "I'll go get some food."

Even in my weakened state, I couldn't resist the urge to tease him. "Make sure it's real food, not the poor dead animals you're so hell-bent on eating."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it Sam. Disgusting veggies for you and some actual meat for me." Danny chuckled at our antics. My initial intention had just been to heckle Tucker a little, but a laughing Danny was an excellent bonus.

I turned to my almost-not-quite-official boyfriend. "I'm awake, you can stop worrying now." I let a small smile grace my features.

"You have no idea how hard the last couple days have been, do you?" Couple days? As in more than one? Shit, I really was out longer than I'd planned on.

"How long was I out?" At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if he said a full week. Hell, he could have said a month and I would have barely flinched. It was clear even now that my final move in that showdown with Vlad more than exceeded my strength limit. That was definitely something you don't do unless it's a 'the only thing left that'll save our asses' move. I took in Vlad's ghost half. That was certainly something I needed to worry about the consequences for, but I couldn't do that now. If I started to worry, Danny would start to worry and I couldn't have that. I'd think about it later, even if I wasn't too keen on finding out what it might mean.

"You were out for three and a half days, Sam." Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was.

"How long were you out? There is no way in hell you didn't pass out when you got us home, or even before that."

"I was out for a good twelve hours. And you can thank Tucker for the save. He managed to find us right as I was about to collapse the same way you did."

I knew the answer to this next question should have been obvious, but my mind wasn't making the connection right now. "How the hell did he find us?"

"I'm not sure when he did it, but he somehow got our ecto-signatures hooked up to some tracker on his PDA." I never thought I'd say this, but yay for Tucker and his blasted PDA!

Silence filled the room for a few minutes before Danny spoke again, a little unsure of himself. Why he was so unsure, I will never know. "Sam, I love you."

"I know Danny, I love you too." I let a full smile cross my face for a second before letting it fall away; it hurt to move my facial muscles too much. It hurt to move anything too much.

"I know." He paused. Was he finally going to ask to make our relationship official? I mean, asking this while I'm lying on the bed practically immobile from pain wasn't the best time to ask, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be welcome. "Look, Sam, I know I really should have asked this a while ago, but…" He took a deep breath. Would you just spit it out already? "Will you be my girlfriend?" A class ring appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"Danny, not just yes, hell yes." His face broke out in a full grin. "You're gonna have to put that ring on me yourself though, I can hardly move." I smirked just a little as he let out a laugh and slipped the ring on my hand. I knew I wouldn't be able to wear it around school as I was still supposed to be a boy as this was an all-boys' school, but it was still nice to have.

Danny leaned in and kissed me. Tucker managed walked back in at that moment. I caught the tail end of an eyeroll before he spoke. "Lovebirds."

For once, I really couldn't deny it.

* * *

_The chapter's a little short, I know, but it was just begging me not to add to it._

_I know atleast one of you wanted me to go over the situation with the GIW. I didn't put it in here, but it will be in the sequel, I promise! It will probably actually fall into the first chapter. :) For those of you who some how managed to miss it, the sequel will probably be titled Pathways. The first chapter will be out Friday. The update schedule is going to change ever so slightly, but you'll hear all about that later._

_Even though this is the final chpater, comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D_

_Hope to see you all soon. :D_

* * *

_Invisible One_


End file.
